The Women of Brewster Place - A Novel in Seven Stories

Gloria Naylor

Penguin Books

1983

193 páginas

6h 26m

ISBN-10: 014006690x

Novel by Gloria Naylor, published in 1982. It chronicles the communal strength of seven diverse black women who live in decaying rented houses on a walled-off street of an urban neighborhood. As the middle-aged matriarch of the group, Mattie Michael is a source of comfort and strength. She recalls her past tragedies in flashbacks. Her close friend, Etta Mae Johnson, is a restless free spirit who repeatedly attaches herself to disappointing men. Embracing racial pride, idealistic Kiswana Browne initially disparages her mother's middle-class values but later accepts them. Mattie saves the long-suffering Ciel Turner from self-destruction after she barely endures a series of personal disasters. Kiswana helps Cora Lee, a young unmarried mother, realize that her many children should not be treated like dolls. Lorraine seeks social acceptance, unlike her outspoken lesbian lover, Theresa. When she is gang-raped, Lorraine is deranged by the attack and murders one of her only supporters, Ben, the kind janitor of Brewster Place. At the novel's end the women angrily demolish the wall that separates them from the rest of the city. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.