Paule Marshall: A Writer’s Life

Paule Marshall “set the stage for contemporary black women writers,” contends Washington (The Other Blacklist), a professor emerita of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, in this solid biography. Washington, a friend of Marshall, uses Marshall’s sparse personal archive (she was loathe to share personal details in writing or interviews) to “begin to renovate her neglected reputation.” Born in 1929 to Barbadian immigrants in Brooklyn, Marshall excelled academically and had a rebellious spirit (she changed her name from Pauline to Paule at 13) and dreams of being a writer. After college, she wrote food and fashion stories for the magazine Our World before turning to fiction. Her 1959 debut novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones, drew from the working-class Brooklyn neighborhood of her childhood and features a strong-willed protagonist. Though her penchant for privacy led her to often be overlooked, Marshall’s novels and stories, according to Washington, did what few of her contemporaries had yet attempted: fiercely examined and resisted colonialism, capitalism, racism, and sexism and portrayed Black women as “agents in their own lives.” Washington does an admirable job weaving analysis of Marshall’s works with the story of her life, framing her as a pivotal figure in Black feminist literature. The result is a notable reclamation of a seminal voice in American letters. (Feb.)