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10 reviews

Silver Sparrow

by Tayari Jones

Published: 2011-05-24
Hardcover : 352 pages

10 members reading this now
36 clubs reading this now
4 members have read this book

Recommended to book clubs by 7 of 10 members

No other editions available.

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Introduction

With the opening line of Silver Sparrow, “My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,” author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man’s deception, a family’s complicity, and the two teenage girls caught in the middle.

Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s two families—the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode. This is the third stunning novel from an author deemed “one of the most important writers of her generation” (the Atlanta Journal Constitution).

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

As the story ends, who has lost and gained the most? Are you comfortable with the choices that were made?

If you found yourselves in the shoes of each of the women, what would you have done the same and different from the characters?

Discuss Raleigh and his culpability in this situation. Should he be judged in the same way as James?

by mystryrdr (see profile) 09/25/12

With this “no win” situation, this story takes on the characteristics of a classic tragedy. We try to figure out if there wasn’t something that could have been done to prevent so much pain. Did you continually second guessing the characters' decisions?

Dana says, “…the truth is this – my father smacked my mother across the jaw when I was six months old…so it happens.” Clearly, Dana only knows about this incident because her mother told her. Did Gwen share too much with Dana?

Would Dana have been better off if she, like Chaurisse, had not known about her dad’s other family?

by Pam Jones (see profile) 09/30/11

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Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

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Book Club Recommendations

Recommended to book clubs by 7 of 10 members.

Member Reviews

Overall rating:

by Tasha H. (see profile) 11/22/20

by Sophie W. (see profile) 02/22/20

by Eula S. (see profile) 02/03/20

by Ayana H. (see profile) 12/29/19

by Lynda W. (see profile) 07/29/19

by Monique H. (see profile) 07/29/19

by Tara B. (see profile) 01/14/19

by Candace P. (see profile) 12/20/16

Looking for a topic you don't read about in fiction much? This is it. Led to conversation from each characters point of view. You just don't know until it's you.

"Silver Sparrow"by Carolyn R. (see profile) 02/01/16

i rated this as not for a book club but others might disagree. story is told from the perspective of both girls. I found the characters wimpy and wanted the second wife to stand up for herself more.... (read more)

by Heather J. (see profile) 09/19/14

NOTE: While I don't think this review has any major spoilers, it does have more revelations than I normally include.

This story begins through the eyes of Dana Lynn, a young girl of colo

... (read more)

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