Brown Girl, Brownstones

Foreword by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Hardcover
$28.00 US
On sale Jun 02, 2026 | 288 Pages | 9780143139201

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A collectible hardcover edition of the beloved coming-of-age novel about a Brooklyn girlhood that heralded a renaissance in Black women’s literature more than sixty years ago, with a new foreword by Nicole Dennis-Benn, the bestselling author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun

A Penguin Vitae Edition


Selina Boyce comes of age in 1940s Brooklyn as the daughter of two Barbadian immigrants—a father she adores and who dreams of nothing but his return to his homeland, and a mother she admires and who is determined to purchase their New York City brownstone. When her father comes into an unexpected inheritance, her parents’ opposing desires set in motion the family’s collapse and Selina’s own self-realization amid the warring ideals and identities of her Black Caribbean community. With Brown Girl, Brownstones, Paule Marshall pioneered a revolution in Black women’s writing, paving the way for Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, and June Jordan in the 1970s. With this beautiful new edition of her debut novel, she finally takes her rightful place in the American literary canon.

Penguin Vitae—loosely translated as "Penguin of one's life"—is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.
Paule Marshall is the author of Brown Girl, Brownstones, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People, Praisesong for the Widow, Soul Clap Hands and Sing, Reena and Other Stories, and Daughters. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she is now Professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. View titles by Paule Marshall

About

A collectible hardcover edition of the beloved coming-of-age novel about a Brooklyn girlhood that heralded a renaissance in Black women’s literature more than sixty years ago, with a new foreword by Nicole Dennis-Benn, the bestselling author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun

A Penguin Vitae Edition


Selina Boyce comes of age in 1940s Brooklyn as the daughter of two Barbadian immigrants—a father she adores and who dreams of nothing but his return to his homeland, and a mother she admires and who is determined to purchase their New York City brownstone. When her father comes into an unexpected inheritance, her parents’ opposing desires set in motion the family’s collapse and Selina’s own self-realization amid the warring ideals and identities of her Black Caribbean community. With Brown Girl, Brownstones, Paule Marshall pioneered a revolution in Black women’s writing, paving the way for Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, and June Jordan in the 1970s. With this beautiful new edition of her debut novel, she finally takes her rightful place in the American literary canon.

Penguin Vitae—loosely translated as "Penguin of one's life"—is a deluxe hardcover series from Penguin Classics celebrating a dynamic and diverse landscape of classic fiction and nonfiction from seventy-five years of classics publishing. Penguin Vitae provides readers with beautifully designed classics that have shaped the course of their lives, and welcomes new readers to discover these literary gifts of personal inspiration, intellectual engagement, and creative originality.

Author

Paule Marshall is the author of Brown Girl, Brownstones, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People, Praisesong for the Widow, Soul Clap Hands and Sing, Reena and Other Stories, and Daughters. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she is now Professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. View titles by Paule Marshall