After I thoroughly enjoyed Jones' new novel, AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE, going back to her first novel was an obvious choice. Everything she did so skillfully with her second novel--switching points of view, making you empathize with characters you despised a few pages earlier, creating complex moral issues of family and loyalty--she does with SILVER SPARROW as well. Our characters are two teenage girls, half-sisters, the daughters of a man who married his mistress despite already being married. Only

Good read, not great. Can't really understand all the fuss. Keep hearing that "it's well written." Hell aren't books supposed to be? We set the bar pretty low when we say that. I pay good money for books, and for me well written is a minimum expectation. I think pace, subject matter, character, realism and prose are important when judging a book as worthy of ones' time. And in that vein, Silver Sparrow hits the mark. It is book you will enjoy talking about with others, because of the real life p...

Before penning the amazing “An American Marriage”, author Tayari Jones wrote “Silver Sparrow” which is about two girls who are sisters, only one sister knows of the other. Confusing? It was for me, as Ms. Jones opened my eyes to families who live with secrets and others who are obliviously unaware. She opens her story with “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist”. Yikes! One reads of those stories, generally involving some strange religion, and these people live in desolate areas, off the g...

Silver Sparrow was chosen as one of the top 10 books of 2011 by Library Journal. Here is an NPR article about this wonderful gem. Here is a Washington Post about Silver Sparrow.What does the “other woman” represent in the nightmares of women everywhere? The mere thought of an “other woman” existing is terrifying, horrifying, humiliating and for many, beyond imagination. What if the “other woman” had a child? What if she lived in the same town and neighborhood? What if the “other woman” was

This is my first book I've read by Tayari Jones. I enjoyed it very much. The majority of story takes place during the 1980s in Atlanta. "Atlanta ain't nothing but a country town". "Silver Sparrows" is about two families. James Witherspoon is a bigamist. He was already married ten years when he first meets Gwendolyn ( Gwen). The first half of the book is told by Dana Lynn Yarboro .(Gwen's daughter). Dana tells us how her mother and James first met. ( gift wrapping counter). Dana's mother knew Jam...

I had not intended to read this book so quickly or to stay up until 3 AM reading it, but I was so caught up in this beautifully written, touching story that I couldn't stop. It's the kind of book that makes you want to discuss it with others right away. I have admired Tayari Jones' writing since her first novel Leaving Atlanta: A Novel, and in my opinion, her writing has only improved over time. She is able to convey so much by the voices she creates for two girls with a common father - given an...

Twitter | Goodreads | Blog | Instagram | Such an intense read.How can someone commit bigamy and get away with it? Or can they!Deceit and lies, secrets and consequences.What a stunning tale. Not just the women that get hurt but the girls involved too. Both around about the same age born from the belly of each of his “wives”.When the latter part came together it was evident how such deceit went deeper than deep.This author can surely draw you in among this family sagas complexity’s. One family a

In Silver Sparrow, we follow two sisters with different mothers who share the same father. The girls are kept away from each other. They grow up in seemingly similar circumstances, but their father's disparate treatment of them results in different lives for the two of them. When their paths finally intersect, it leads to the unraveling of their father's carefully crafted families.The writing in here is beautiful: evocative, nuanced, and weighty. I found myself immersed in it, unable to turn awa...

I hated that I waited so long to read this book.Tayari Jones walked my neighborhood, along my streets, past stores I shopped in and restaurants I ate at in Atlanta. Her characters went to schools my friends went to and many of their experiences were mine too. Those nostalgic 80's when life seemed to be bathed in neon and everyone wore jellies, but not even bright colors could cover up some of the scandals that rocked the local hair salons with gossip in real life and also in this almost-true-to-...

Complicated. Complicated. Complicated! This is a book that so many "bookie" friends have recommended to me. I just recently found it in my local used bookstore with a round of other much recommended books and so I decided to dive right in. Since so many have already read it, I'm not too sure what I could say that hasn't already been said but of course, give my opinion. Let's start with the composition. This is an extremely tempting and curious book. From the first page as our narrator starts

Well written book with beautiful language about a black family in the siuth whose husband and father is a bigamist. He has two families and two daughters roughly the same age. Though the first family knows about the first, his first family doesn't have the same knowledge. When as a five year old his second daughter is told by her father that she is the secret family it colors her whole life. when the two daughters become friends many things happen.

There was a good premise here - 2 daughters, 2 mothers, 1 father. Only 1 mother/daughter pairing knew of the other. And then ultimately, they would all come together somewhow. It was the coming together that didn't wow! me - I wanted more from that very important turn-their-life-upside-down moment. There were a lot of questions I had when I got to the last page.Why didn't Raleigh have his own lady-friend, why did he hang his whole life on his not-brother and his family? Why did Dana befriend Cha...

The premise of The Silver Sparrow is so enticing! Narrated by two girls, one year apart in age, who both live in Atlanta and whose father is a bigamist. One knows, the other doesn't. Unfortunately, the book slumps along and never gets off the ground. I'm rating it 3 stars because it is readable, has great promise and was clearly good practice for An American Marriage.

A rather stunning, richly detailed novel. I loved it very much. You can peep my full review here tomorrow: http://htmlgiant.com/reviews/silver-s...

This book is devastating. I never should have started it because there is only one way for a story like this to go. And, it did. Now I just want it out of me. Damn.BTW: Tayari Jones, you can WRITE. Also, that epilogue is EPIC. So real and so heartbreaking. I am a hot mess. thankyouverymuch.

It's complicatedI got wrapped up in Silver Sparrow really quickly. It doesn't take long to tell that this is not a "typical" tale about bigamy with clearly defined aggressors and victims. In general, the female characters have a lot more agency than in other depictions of bigamy, so at the end of Part I, I was interested in seeing where this would lead. But then, I hit Part II. Part I is narrated by one of the bigamist's daughters, and Part II is narrated by his other daughter. Shortly after the...

An intriguing story about an African-American man, James, who is a bigamist. James is married to two women at the same time,and has a daughter by each of them. The weird thing is James is actually a good man and it's easy to sympathize with his predicament.I liked the structure of the book; the first half was narrated by Dana, daughter of the second wife, and the second half was narrated by Bunny, daughter of the first wife. As Chaurisse didn't knows that her father was already married, it was p...

4.5 stars“My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.” This opening line to Tayari Jones’s 2011 novel Silver Sparrow , is simply stated, but after finishing the story, we realize just how much of a punch this one sentence packs. In this wonderfully nuanced story of two sisters, one of whom doesn’t even know the other exists, we are given insight into a family and the dysfunction that results from one fateful decision. In James Witherspoon’s eyes, he believes he is “doing the right thing” by

The book started off pretty well. The storyline was intriguing and seemed a bit familiar. However, I found it very difficult to like any of the characters in the story. I think that the author should have chosen to share the stories of Dana and Chaurisse at the same time instead of first giving Dana's view then Chaurisse's. By the time Chaurisse time had come, I was already a bit bored. I do think Jones has great potential in penning a good novel. She just missed the mark on this one.

Enjoyable, but I wish the author had taken it to an even deeper (social-psychological) level.