Brown Baggers met on March 16 to discuss Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones, JMRL’s 11th NEA Big Read book selection. Silver Sparrow follows the story of teen daughters of one man, but two separate women.  One teen daughter knows there are two families, but the other does not.

Readers discussed a variety of themes and characters in the book.

The main take away was that this story seemed to hit on the universality of family problems. While the family in the center of the novel is black, readers felt that their race wasn’t really the point and that the author endeavored to keep it as neutral an element as possible. Instead Jones set a family drama in  a neighborhood familiar to her which happens to be a primarily black neighborhood in Atlanta.

Readers went on to discuss what the notion of family meant in the story. They noted that non-blood related “brothers” James and Raleigh seemed to have a stronger familial bond than blood-related sisters Dana and Chaurisse.

Some readers thought James was neither good nor bad, because as humans we all make poor choices. But others felt he was definitely bad due to the discord he sowed with Dana and Gwen, although they sometimes realized this only later in the story. Some felt he was not as vibrant a character as any of the women. Readers suggested his fatal flaw was the lying it took to maintain his bigamist lifestyle. His value of family bonds and loyalty led him to make the decision he did at the end.

Speaking of women and their vibrancy, we talked about whether the girls confidence or lack thereof was a result of how their father treated them or having to share him. Readers felt more that the behaviors and attitudes modeled by the mothers were what ultimately had the strongest impression on the girls. Gwen being self sufficient, independent, and confident in her looks and abilities made Dana behave similarly, whereas Laverne being unsure of herself and condemning  of her own looks impressed similar behaviors on Chaurisse. Overall readers enjoyed the mother-daughter relationships.

One reader said it best when addressing the bigamy, “Sometimes you don’t do the most sensible things.” While readers enjoyed both stories, in the end they only felt sad for all the characters because no one ends up happy as a result of their decisions.

Mentions
Steel Magnolias play and film
Hair Story book
Good Hair film

Additional Information
Author bio
NEA Big Read website

Brown Baggers will meet again on April 20 to discuss Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough.