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Feb 06, 2012

Regina rated it:

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 nei More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 17, 2011

Wilhelmina rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2012

Constance rated it:

This was a pleasant read for me. It started slow, but when it finally got my attention I didn’t put it down. Jones does a good job of creating imagery. Also conversation among female characters was filled with a lot of cute and sassy phrases about no good men, love and relationships in general. I felt as if the narration was uneven. Meaning Dana was given more of the substantive material. Also there were some unnecessary parts and some parts I felt weren’t explained enough. I could have done wit More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Roxanne rated it:

I have never read a story that even comes close to what Tayari Jones has created. Jones created a distinctive story, that engages the reader from beginning to end.

While this felt very Young Adult to me, I was completely engrossed by page 10. And I am definately not a young adult.

For some reason I was disappointed when the narrative voice changed from Dana to Chaurisse. The situation that both girls were put in was a result of their father's decision-making and Dan More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Myron rated it:

Oftentimes you hear stories about the "other woman" of adulterous affairs but what about the "other child." The Silver Sparrow is the story of one such "other child." In fact this story is about both the legitimate and illegitimate children of an adulterous bigamist. Chaurisse Witherspoon is the daughter of James Witherspoon; Dana Harboring is also Jame's daughter, only she and her mother has to keep it a secret from everyone especially from Chaurisse and her mother More...

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Dec 06, 2011

marymurtz rated it:

Browsing through the books available on eReader from our public library has revealed some books to me I might not have otherwise chosen. This book was one of them. The first line grabbed me: "My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist."

Set in Atlanta in the 1970s and 1980s, the story is told first from the point of view of Dana Lynn Yarboro, who is the secret child of James Witherspoon's second, secret, wife. She knows there is a "legitimate" Mrs. Witherspoon, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2011

Michelle rated it:

I don't even remember where I heard about this book, but when it appeared in my library queue, ready to download, I jumped on it. It was compelling from all angles; I will admit, however, that (SPOILER) when the two sisters meet for the first time, while only one of them knows the truth, I think I was expecting more drama. Maybe that was a personal peeve, for personal reasons, and it didn't detract from the overall emotional punch of the book. The ending, too, reminded me a little of Bastard More...

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Oct 04, 2011

Franc rated it:

There was a good premise here - 2 daughters, 2 mothers, 1 father. Oly 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 lost 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 befr More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 19, 2011

Nicolemauerman rated it:

In college I was subjected to Dr. Laura on my daily bus ride. One day a man called in and said that his son had just brought home his new fiancé. The only problem was that the man used to travel a lot for work and had a ‘real family’ which his son was a product of, and another family which produced a daughter. The fiancé was actually the son’s sister. Try explaining that one. Ouch.
This book is along those same lines. A taxi-driving, bigamist, stutter has both a ‘real family’ and a ‘Wednes More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 18, 2011

LiteraryMarie rated it:

"My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist. He was already married ten years when he first clamped eyes on my mother."

This is the first line of Silver Sparrow. And so begins the story of deception, infidelity, secret lives, and a complex family. James Witherspoon is living a double life; he has a secret family and a public one. The story is told from the viewpoint of two girls who are caught in the middle. Dana Lynn Yarboro is the secret daughter. She knows all about Bunny More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Jenny rated it:

I read and enjoyed Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones earlier this year and adored the characters in that book. I was fortunate enough to meet Tayari, who was super wonderful, at this year's UCF Book Festival and had her sign my book (the first Silver Sparrow book she had signed!) I truly anticipated this book but worried that my high hopes would lessen my enjoyment of the story when it came down to it. Fortunately, I thoroughly enjoyed Silver Sparrow. I was enraptured by yet another wonderful stor More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Mocha Girl rated it:

The aftereffects of bigamy is the central theme of Silver Sparrow, a novel told from the perspectives of James Witherspoon's daughters: Chaurisse from his legally wed, older, plainer-looking first wife and Dana, the result of an affair with a much younger, attractive "wife," illegally wedded some time after Dana's birth, four months before Chaurisse's. From the onset, Dana's world is shaped by the whims and priorities of Chaurisse's. One of her earliest memories is John telling her she More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

K. rated it:

None of us can escape our backgrounds; and just like the half-sisters Dana and Chaurisse in Silver Sparrow I was a teenager in the 80's.

But our experiences couldn't be further apart. And in writing this review I am going to reveal ignorance, so let's be up front about that.

The Atlanta neighborhoods of this story are far removed, culturally and geographically from my Jewish/White suburb of Cleveland.

It was hard to remember, in some ways, that this was a moder More...

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Nov 04, 2011

Adrienne rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 13, 2011

Andre rated it:

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 More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 13, 2011

Jaspreet rated it:

A few weeks ago, I got an email about the next meeting of the Professor and Partner book club. I was excited to find out that I would be in town and made plans to attend. I had not heard about Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones, but was intrigued by the description. Since things were so crazy here in MA with trying to prepare for the upcoming baby arrival and nesting while waiting to get back into our house, I was not sure how much time I would have to read. Fortunately, things aligned well. The More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 09, 2011

Candice rated it:

The book is told in two sections by two daughters of the same man. How well do you know anyone? In the case of James Witherspoon, his first wife and daughter didn't know him very well. Witherspoon was a bigamist. The story of how he met his second wife would have been romantic, if he were not already married. But Gwen knew he was married and when they began an affair, conceived a child, and married, more than just the two of them suffered the consequences. Witherspoon lived with his first More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 12, 2011

Susan rated it:

I devoured this as if I were starved for literature, which I'm not. The voices of the characters were so authentic I just had to see how it all turned out for Dana and Chaurisse. These two young women are half-sisters but only one of them knows that they have a father in common, James Witherspoon the bigamist. This drama takes place in Atlanta, and I found some of the details of the characters' lives just as intriguing as their situation. For example, all the mysteries of African-American ha More...

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Jun 25, 2011

Olivia rated it:

This book opens with what seems like a spoiler, and explains itself away throughout the rest of the 350-something pages. “My father is a bigamist,” a girl tells us. And at first sight, that sentence told me what I needed to know about men in this book, and about the women – sisters and wives – who were being kept secret in each her own way. The story is divided in half, just like everything and everyone else in the book. Each half is narrated by one of the father’s two daughters, first Dana, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2011

Babydoll rated it:

I must confess, that even after the conclusion of this book, the story continues to resound in my spirit. Silver Sparrow is a disheartening tale of two sisters, and a disturbing family secret that divides them for the better part of their lives. The central part of the novel takes place in 1980’s Atlanta, Georgia and is written in the narrative voices of the main characters Dana Lynn Yarboro and Bunny Chaurisse Witherspoon. At the opening of the novel, Jones introduces the reader to the vivaciou More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

May 29, 2011

Hattie rated it:

tayari jones

When I write a book review, I try hard not to give away spoilers. This time TAYARI JONES took that burden from my shoulder. The first chapter is titled The Secret. The first sentence reveals the secret. "My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist." The many other paragraphs and chapters in Silver Sparrow reveal the lives of two families. Both the Yarboro and Witherspoon families would probably say there is a father and husband in their home most of the time. Ho More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 13, 2011

Jan rated it:

The author developed the premise that a young black man takes on responsibility for the welfare of two different women he's impregnated by marrying both of them. His two wives have baby girls within a short time of each other, and those two girls become friends when they are 17 years old. One knows the other is her sister; the other is completely unaware of the father's second family. The author has tried to imagine the interpersonal dynamics that would evolve under these conditions. The adu More...

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Dec 27, 2011

Angela rated it:

I started this book thinking it would be a mediocre book. You learn about a girl who has a father who is also the father of another girl her age and he's married to both of the mothers. However, when the book changes perspective and you learn about the story from the other girl's vantage point, it reveals a complex story with layers of complexity. When their lives overlap, it's even more engaging. This was a great book, a page turner.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 03, 2011

Lynne rated it:

Aug. 28, 2011
I'm just getting started but like the narrator's voice. Jones doesn't overwrite, which is a nice change from what I've been reading lately. The conversation the 5-year-old narrator has with her father in the very beginning of the book is well done. I'd like to say more but don't want to be a spoiler. Didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I am, because the idea of bigamy doesn't intrigue me. But the main characters are, so far, well drawn and complex. I'm looking forward More...

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Dec 08, 2011

Jessica rated it:

James Witherspoon marries Laverne when they are literally teenagers – he’s 17 and she’s 14; they are essentially forced into it when Laverne discovers that she is pregnant. Though Laverne loses the baby, but the two learn to genuinely love each other over time. Ten years later, James also marries Gwendolyn Yarboro after she becomes pregnant – but he refuses to leave Laverne. Gwendolyn gives birth to Dana just a few days after Laverne gives birth to Chaurisse. This book is about the emotional ram More...

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Jul 21, 2011

Gretchen rated it:

It's not a good sign when less than a week after finishing this novel, I can't remember the title, or the names of the major characters.

Tayari Jones has an interesting concept with this novel: what would it be like to grow up as the child of a "secret" bigamis marriage? What would you want to know about your fathers other family? What would you risk to get to know them? And what would you really be looking for - love? Acceptance? A chance to be first in his affections?

More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Emily rated it:

This was a strange book... it was on the recommended list at the library so I checked it out. It's about a girl named Dana, her mom, and her father, James, who also happens to be married to another woman and has another daughter. Dana and her mom are the secret family, and the book is about how that dynamic shapes their lives. The first half of the book is told in Dana's perspective. I didn't love her as a character- she was imperfect and made bad choices, which made her real, but not someone I More...

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Jan 13, 2012

Raquel rated it:

This book was powerful and sad. I want to post my feelings about it but it would be full of spoilers. Ultimately this book is about family and about the bonds that tie us together. Which bond is most powerful? Which is most important? That with your mother? Your father? Your sister? What if you had a sister and grew up knowing you had one, but she didn't know about you and you were forbidden from ever meeting her or knowing her?

The first half of the book is narrated by Dana, the secre More...

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Jan 12, 2012

AndreaM rated it:

This book is written from the point of view of two young African American women who are connected because they share a father, who is active in both their lives though only one of them knows about the other. Right from the first page, I felt the threat of a dramatic unravelling of the precarious web of lies the adults have set up around the young women. Wanting to find out how it would play out kept me turning pages, but the young womens' voices and insights also stopped me from rushing because More...

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Aug 12, 2011

Koritha rated it:

Toward the end of Silver Sparrow, a character says, "Someone should write a book on the secret lives of girls" (326). Tayari Jones has done just that, and done it beautifully. This is an engrossing story about the lives led by the daughters of a man married to two women. The first half is told by the adult Dana, the daughter of the unacknowledged wife; the second half of the book is narrated by Chaurisse, the daughter of the publicly acknowledged wife.

One of the early More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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