Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Women of Brewster Place

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

fschulenberg's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Enjoyed reading some of the stories more than others. Overall themes I enjoyed reading about were change, community, and loss. I would recommend reading content warnings for this book.

Content Warnings

artmommy2's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Women will relate to many of the characters' stories - romantic relationships, family, & hardships. Each story is (separated by chapter) is short (easy to read before bed or in between tasks) but still riveting. Also, Gaynor's writing is beautifully poetic.

Content Warnings