Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - The Women of Brewster Place

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

9 reviews

passionatereader78's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is a tear jerker. The Heartbreak theses women suffered was painful to read, however, the resilience and hope they showed is inspiring.

Content Warnings

syds_shelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't see my extended family anymore. The last time I saw them was at my great great grandmother's funeral 3 years ago and before that, it had been more than ten years. This book reminded me of the best and worst of them. People can be complex and sifting through the feelings and pain isn't always clean, but with books it can be. This book reminded me of every conversation I would try and piece together through mumbles I heard through closed bedroom doors. It reminded me of every time I would be dismissed outside or to a different room so "grown folks" could talk. It reminded me of the best and the worst of the people I've loved who share blood with me and who I don't see anymore. With that, I already had a sandwich made of sympathy and tender feelings towards each character, and I didn't think it could grow until it turned into a triple-decker. I hate the limitations of this book - I want volumes and paragraphs about each of these people. I need to know that they're going to be okay. I need them to be okay. I also know that the snippets of life in this book is what makes it so special. They exist within each other's stories and in the pages, and that's it. Anything more might ruin the magic of the stories. But fuck, do I want more. I can't think of a short story collection (I don't read many for this very reason) other than Brandon Taylor's Filthy Animals that managed to pain a complete picture of characters and life for me, and Brewster was far more impactful for me than the former (and I love Brandon Taylor). I was comparing this to other "tales of misery" books - Homegoing, There, There, A little Life... I think this blows those out of the water in terms of the hopefulness. Maybe everything turns out okay. Maybe these women will still always have each other. This, unlike the others, leaves the ending open. It keeps you from the edge of truly knowing. And I think that's a kindness, even though I want more. This is so good. It is so much. I love it so much. Wow.

Content Warnings

caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A beautiful anthology collecting the lives of the Black women living in an under-served neighborhood from the neighborhood's inception to the moment it's torn down. I was especially delighted that the stories didn't exclusively focus on doom and gloom and difficulties, but that there was specifically room made for the beautiful moments of camaraderie between friends and families, specifically the way these generations of women do their best to build one another up even when the rest of the world fails them. There is a lot of sorrow (check the TW list), but the perseverance underlying it all was what kept me reading.

I was a little thrown off by the variety in length for some of the stories (eg. the opening story, Mattie, was about 1/5 of the whole book, whereas others were only a few pages long), because it seemed to grant more weight to some of these women compared to the others, and set me up to expect more of them, but it didn't make it less enjoyable to read overall. It did make it a little hard to pick up on the fact that the collection was moving through time, but again that wasn't a detracting factor to my enjoyment.

Content Warnings

adrreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

renareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

murakamimami's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Loved it. I felt so connected to the women and their stories. Gloria Naylor is a talented writer.

Content Warnings

tina94's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

rlgreen91's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

This was a very intriguing set of stories. Even a day later, I'm still chewing over the different ways Naylor portrays facets of Black womanhood, and I'm sure my book club will give me even more to think about.

I'll hide this to avoid spoilers,

but one thing I was surprised about was my reaction to the residents' week after Lorraine's attack and Ben's death. Initially, I thought "Yeah, you should feel bad because you started all of this," and that isn't surprising. But almost immediately afterwards I felt this sense of disdain, which was what surprised me. It almost felt immoral that the rest of the book (which granted, wasn't much) focused on their feelings. Like why should we focus on your guilt and unease when your deliberate shunning and homophobia started all of this in the first place? Why is this about you? Even in Mattie's dream, they were still excluding Theresa - there's no mention of anyone even trying to reach out to here.

It was frustrating to read, but I was surprised at how quickly that frustration bubbled up; maybe after 2 years of pandemic life I'm just tired of people's bullshit.

Overall, this was a wonderfully written piece, and I'm looking forward to reading Linden Hills next.

Content Warnings

soliteyah's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

More...