“Remarkable for its colorful characters, the cadence of its dialogue and its evocation of a still-lingering past.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Marshall brings to her characters . . . an instinctive understanding, a generosity and free humor that combine to form a style remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control.” —The New Yorker
“An unforgettable novel written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears.” —New York Herald Tribune
“Passionate, compelling . . . an impressive accomplishment.” —Saturday Review
“[A] literary gem . . . Brown Girl, Brownstones is so affirming in its celebration of Caribbean culture that, reading it, I felt my lungs fill with my desire to create. . . . How many Black Caribbean girls, I wondered, had any idea that we could do this, that we could tell our own stories? . . . Paule Marshall brought Black Caribbean women to life in her books. . . . She did this with compassion and precision, masterfully capturing all the nuances of being Black, Caribbean, immigrant, woman. She did this, above all, with love. . . . In depicting a young girl carving out a place for herself in the world, Paule Marshall has carved out a place for herself in the literary canon.” —Nicole Dennis-Benn, from the Foreword