The author's debut novel : Uncommon in the striking wrapper

Marshall, Paule ~ Brown Girl, Brownstones

First UK Printing : W. H. Allen, London : 1960

First UK Printing published by W. H. Allen, London in 1960. 8vo., red boards lettered in gilt to spine with publisher’s device to foot; in the vibrant neatly-clipped pictorial wrapper showing the corner of a street in New York; The BOOK a Very Good++ copy, lightly pushed to spine tips, mildly offset to endpapers and lightly spotted to the edges of the text block; previous ownership inscription to front free endpaper; the WRAPPER Very Good aside from some extensive chipping, most so to the upper edge, were some larger portions of loss have extended into the artwork, (3cm approx), causing some loss of lettering; associate rubbing, creasing and nicking. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition, first printing, of the author’s celebrated debut novel, an account of Barbadian immigrant life in Brooklyn. First published in America the previous year. Essentially a coming-of-age novel centred around the protagonist Selina, who is torn between her father Deighton’s love for Barbados and her mother Silla’s American dream. Semi-autobiographical, it follows the characters in Brooklyn throughout the Great Depression and into WWII, and the racism and extreme poverty they experience throughout their lives. Marshall herself was born and raised in Brooklyn, and was strongly influenced by her mother’s relationship to language. “It served as therapy” she later wrote, “the cheapest kind available to my mother and her friends. It restored them to a sense of themselves and reaffirmed their self-worth. Through language they were able to overcome the humiliations of the work day. Confronted by a world they could not encompass, they took refuge in language." The novel is seen as one of the first to truly explore the life of a young female African-Americans and depict cross-cultural conflicts. 'Brown Girl, Brownstones' gained further recognition in 1981 after being published by the Feminist Press. The UK edition is especially uncommon, more so together with the wrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good++
JACKET: Very Good