"Brown Girls," by Daphne Palasi Andreades

I cannot speak highly enough of first time novelist Daphne Palasi Andreades’ “Brown Girls” (Random House, 2022). The story is told in the plural voice, a sort of chorus, of an extended group of girls of various ethnic and national backgrounds who grow up together in the borough of Queens, New York City. They, or their parents or grandparents, are from the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Bahamas, Vietnam, India, Mexico, and many more countries. They tell stories of their families, their neighborhoods, their schools, the boys and girls they date and love, the music, the excitements and the dangers, and most of all, their extended sisterhood and their pride in their heritages and cultures. The group story takes them through girlhood, young womanhood, and into middle age and beyond, but with an emphasis on their teen years and their twenties. There is much to celebrate, but there are also sad and even tragic events. This novel is beautifully written, with the “chorus” structure being very effective. The novel bursts with life in all its aspects, and is exhilarating in its breadth and vividness. Highly recommended!