Tayari Jones

A breathtaking tale of family secrets, from the international bestselling author of An American Marriage AN OBSERVER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE CHRISTMAS GIFT LISTING A GUARDIAN 'BEST BOOK OF 2020 TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS' A BOOKSELLER SMALL PUBLISHERS 2020 TOP 20 A Most Anticipated Book for 2020 according to The Sunday Times, the FT and the Guardian 'My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.' SECRETS Dana and Chaurisse are sisters, bound together by the life-changing secret of their father's double life. LIES Only one of them knows the truth. When they do finally meet and form a friendship, the fragile balance of ignorance and silence that has kept James' secrets safe for so long threatens to explode. HOPE This soulful story of friendship and sisterhood paints an unforgettable picture of the messy knots that bind families together, from the prize-winning author of An American Marriage.

From the Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, 2019

Silver Sparrow

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of An American Marriage “A love story . . . Full of perverse wisdom and proud joy . . . Jones’s skill for wry understatement never wavers.” —O: The Oprah Magazine “Silver Sparrow will break your heart before you even know it. Tayari Jones has written a novel filled with characters I’ll never forget. This is a book I’ll read more than once.” —Judy Blume With the opening line of Silver Sparrow, "My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist," author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man's deception, a family's complicity, and the two teenage girls caught in the middle. Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon's two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode. This is the third stunning novel from an author deemed "one of the most important writers of her generation" (the Atlanta Journal Constitution).

Yulande Lindsay

4 1/2 actually. Lord but this book made me sooooo angry. So angry. You have to read it to understand why. When adults make reckless, thoughtless decisions that impact their children and then blame the children after the fallout... Tayari Jones is a superb writer. One of those that while you're reading, you forget you're reading and are actually there, hence the rage. Will be reading everything she writes from now on. Highly, highly recommended.

Moray Lyle McIntosh

Dana and Chaurisse share a father but only Dana is aware of this. This is because their father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist, secretly married to both of their mothers. Dana and her mother have always known this but the pain and responsibility of being secret while his 24/7 family is protected from their existence grows until, inevitably, everything starts to fall apart. It's a fascinating premise and the story switches effectively from Dana's more knowledgeable perspective to Chaurisse's ignorance as events come to a head.

This is the first book I've read by Tayari Jones, and I will definitely read more. She's an excellent writer and reading her work feels effortless as well as absorbing. Her characters are well-drawn and she doesn't fall into the trap of making anyone and out-and-out villain (I'm still not going to accept that James wasn't the worst of them though!) with their own weaknesses and selfish impulses. The problem I have with the novel is that it still feels like half a story. It ends just as secrets are revealed and though there is a brief return to them years after I wanted to know how they dealt with the fall-out more than I wanted the details of how the deceptions were discovered. It ended just as the most interesting part of the story was about to begin.

Emily S

Brief synopsis: Dana has a loving family. Chaurisse has a loving family. They share a dad, but only Dana knows this. What happens when the tension, jealousy, and hurt get to be too much in this one neighborhood?

My my, I am surprised by how affected I was while reading this book after going in blind, not knowing anything about it and never having heard anyone else talk about it. 

The first half of the book is told from Dana’s perspective, and then it switches and we hear from Chaurisse’s perspective. This is when I felt like the book really picked up for me. 

I really felt for each and every character in this book. There was no “good guy” or “bad guy.” There were just a bunch of people who were desperate to be loved, and who were all trying to make the most out of non-ideal situations.

Recommended for fans of The Vanishing Half, or any stories about complicated and messy families. Also, of course, if you’ve read and enjoyed An American Marriage!

Devin Mainville

Silver Sparrow follows the lives of two sisters, but only one is aware of the other. “My father James Witherspoon is a bigamist,” the novel begins and from there we’re introduced to his secret daughter, Dana, and later the daughter he publicly recognizes, Chaurisse. In separate sections, the two girls narrate their vastly different childhood experiences.

The pacing felt a little off to me, with much more time being spent on one daughter over the other and a somewhat rushed feeling at the end. However, that is only a minor complaint. Overall, I found the story riveting and appreciated the realistically moving way the themes of both mother/daughter relationships and female friendships were explored. These characters were so fully developed I kept imagining this as a TV series because I would love to spend a few more hours with them. And, according to the internet, it is being adapted into a film by Issa Rae! I’ll take it.

Alyssa Jacunski

After picking up American Marriage a couple years ago, I was itching to try another Tayari Jones novel. And with this novel being available via audiobook from my library, it was a no brainer to pick this up.

The main plot of this story is that a man, James, has been living two lives with two women and two daughters. The teen daughters are caught in the crux of this and ultimately meet, only one of the daughters know that they are (in fact) sisters. Honestly, that's as much detail as I want to give.

Knowing the premise and dual POV's that we're reading from, this story is masterfully crafted. The narrative gives us enough information for the moment in time we're at within the story. 

Objectively, the writing is superb and the reason I enjoyed American Marriage so much, as well. Unfortunately, this must not have been the book for me at the time I was reading it. I found this to be a solid story, but average. In full transparency, it took me a bit to stay invested at the beginning and I think a month and a half to actually finish. I would be willing to re-visit this book in the future to see if I have a different response to it, but for now, I will stick to a three star rating.

The main content warning within this novel is a secret family.

Michael Hessling

Very sad and intense. Not sure I got the ending, though.

Heidi Adair

Bria

carissa r

A breathtaking tale of family secrets, from the bestselling author of An American Marriage

Silver Sparrow From the Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, 2019

Reviews