When I write a book review, I try hard not to give away spoilers. This time TAYARI JONES took that burden from my shoulder. The first chapter is titled The Secret. The first sentence reveals the secret. "My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist." The many other paragraphs and chapters in Silver Sparrow reveal the lives of two families. Both the Yarboro and Witherspoon families would probably say there is a father and husband in their home most of the time. However, I think each family, without knowing the cause, experienced a feeling of emptiness. I doubt if James Witherspoon experienced a full heart of love and joy either. Surely, he must have felt disconnected, out on a limb or visually impaired at some time or another.
I thought the layout of the novel fantastic. In Part I, I am introduced to Dana Lynn Yarboro. In Part II, I learn about Bunny Chaurisse Witherspoon. The girls have the same father, not the same mother. James Witherspoon is the father. Dana grows up knowing about Chaurisse. It's a long time before Chaurisse knows about Dana. It is the same with the mothers. Gwen Yarboro knows all the truths or lies. Laverne Witherspoon lives in the darkness of the shadows created by her husband, James. Whoever knew what and when was not my focus. I think Chaurisse said it in the best way.
I am not the one to believe that our shared blood made us sisters...but having shared a father gave us something in common that looped around our ankles and pulled tight around our wrists. This was between all of us. The six of us were hog-tied fastened in place by different knots."
When reading the first line of the story, I definitely didn't own all the pieces of the puzzle.There are so many moments where I laid the book down and said, "oh my goodness." Other times I laid the book down and whispered, "no, no, it can't happen this way."
I won't forget the disaster of the fur coats. I won't forget the night a call to a parent had to be made. I especially liked having a beauty parlor, The Pink Fox, in the novel. The owner is Laverne Witherspoon. Little did she know what would happen in front of the clientele. There is nothing like shocking surprises while ladies have wet hair, perms half done and others are drying under the hood of a dryer.
I have read many wonderful novels. This is one time I wanted a fictional character to come to life. I wanted to go to Atlanta. Then, I wanted to meet James Witherspoon at a discreet, convenient place and ask him "Why? Why did you do it? Was it just an exciting night by night thrill? Why Mr. Witherspoon?
