As a Libra, I am obsessed with balance so I noticed a lot of interesting contrasts. I was fascinated by how the characters provided so much of the structure in this novel. The backdrop is black, middle class Atlanta during the 1980s but there’s also a lot of really interesting and difficult historical context brought into the novel to help explain how the adults, in particular, came to such a complicated pass. The writing is subtle, elegant and the exceptional attention to detail really elevates this book. Silver Sparrow is the story of two daughters, Dana Lynn Yarboro and Chaurisse Witherspoon, the bigamist father they share, James Witherspoon, his might-as-well-be brother and shadow Raleigh, and the mothers of the two girls, Gwendolyn and Laverne. That’s a lot of what this novel is about-the narrative slowly, carefuly bringing to light a truth many people are complicit in keeping hidden and what that deception ends up costing every one involved. If there’s a secret, the truth is, eventually, going to come to light. If there’s a secret, there’s something worth hiding and someone who does not know what is being hidden and there’s likely to be trouble. The first chapter is entitled, “The Secret,” and that early revelation sets the tone. I haven’t been able to stop reading this book since I got my hands on a copy. I mostly read to be moved and engaged with this book I very much was.

We all come to reading for different reasons. Silver Sparrow is thoroughly engaging and although there is so much intense emotion driving the story forward, that emotion is expertly controlled, never becoming indulgent or melodramatic. Nonetheless, Silver Sparrow is a book where how the writer leads the reader to an inevitable ending matters most. Normally, this approach of revealing so much of what is at stake in the early going might seem like a prescription for failure but such is not the case in what is a remarkable novel. This is not to suggest that this novel is without its surprises or complexities you will find both in this book. You also get a sense of how the story will end. Silver Sparrow, by Tayari Jones, is a novel where you know, from the first page, what the major tensions of the narrative are.

Silver sparrow tayari jones review