
Silver Sparrow
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Rosalyn Coleman Williams
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Heather Alicia Simms
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By:
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Tayari Jones
About this listen
Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, Silver Sparrow 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 when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich yet flawed characters - the father, the two mothers, the grandmother, and the uncle - she also reveals the joy, as well as the destruction, they brought to one another's lives. At the heart of it all are the two lives at stake, and like the best writers - think Toni Morrison with The Bluest Eye - Jones portrays the fragility of these young girls with raw authenticity as they seek love, demand attention, and try to imagine themselves as women, just not as their mothers.
©2011 Tayari Jones. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGoListeners also enjoyed...
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Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a “for fun” relationship with a rich, charming executive, who just happens to be her White boss. But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice arrives in the executive suite and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head.
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Could barely finish this book
- By Boston Book Obsessed on 11-08-21
By: Wanda M. Morris
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You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty
- A Novel
- By: Akwaeke Emezi
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career.
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Very well written but...
- By Sasha on 05-31-22
By: Akwaeke Emezi
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Half Light
- By: Tayari Jones
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Original Recording
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Identical twins Amelia and Camelia Hall were born with the same face, and that’s about it: By the time the girls were through school, the matching set of names could no longer contain them. But the bond between the sisters is deep and unshakable - Cam serves as the maid of honor on Lia’s wedding day and as her attorney 15 years later, when Lia’s life and the lives of her two teenage daughters are rocked by divorce.
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Half Light
- By barbara on 09-02-20
By: Tayari Jones
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The House of Eve
- By: Sadeqa Johnson
- Narrated by: Ariel Blake, Nicole Lewis, Sadeqa Johnson
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright. Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don’t let just anyone into their fold.
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This could've been good...
- By Speedreader on 10-13-23
By: Sadeqa Johnson
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Pomegranate
- A Novel
- By: Helen Elaine Lee
- Narrated by: Machelle Williams, Janina Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Ranita Atwater is “getting short.” She is almost done with her four-year sentence for opiate possession at Oak Hills Correctional Center. Three years sober, she is determined to stay clean and regain custody of her two children. Ranita is regaining her freedom, but she’s leaving behind her lover Maxine, who has inspired her to imagine herself and the world differently.
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Powerful, Human, and Moving
- By Newlawgirl on 05-02-23
By: Helen Elaine Lee
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Harlem Rhapsody
- By: Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all. W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife, nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two apart.
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Horrible Representation
- By Kwana Nicholas on 04-05-25
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Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
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Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
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Queenie
- By: Candice Carty-Williams
- Narrated by: Shvorne Marks
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle-class peers. After a messy breakup from her White long-term boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places...including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.
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The Black Womans Burden
- By LATOYA LEWIS on 05-20-19
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Don't Cry for Me
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Black
- Narrated by: Daniel Black
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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As Jacob lies dying, he begins to write a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother and the shame he carries from the dissolution of their family. Tragedies that informed Jacob's role as a father and his reaction to Isaac's being gay.
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Weird
- By valerie on 02-02-22
By: Daniel Black
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The American Queen
- By: Vanessa Miller
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Transformative and breathtakingly honest, The American Queen is based on actual events that occurred between 1865 - 1889 and shares the unsung history of a Black woman who built a kingdom in Appalachia as a refuge for the courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of life. Over the twenty-four years she was enslaved on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learned to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother. Hate for the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose. Hate so powerful there's no room in her heart for love.
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The life of the Queen
- By R. Dameron on 03-26-24
By: Vanessa Miller
What listeners say about Silver Sparrow
Highly rated for:
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- Keisha
- 01-17-13
underwhelming ending
3.75 stars. This book had been on my too read list for some time now so I was glad that an online book club chose it for January. I liked this book better than the authors other work Leaving Atlanta. I found myself unable to put the book down after a while and finished it in less than two days.
I try not to read too many reviews and synopsis so that I can go in with a clear head and draw my own opinions. I did notice however that some of reviews said the work was unfinished or the author seemed to not know how to wrap it up etc. As I was reading it I kept thinking what were people talking about this seems pretty complete and then I got to the end and epilogue and was like, HUH?!?!?!? I got it then and agree wholeheartedly. The book wasn't even wrapped up or concluded it seemed to end mid-sentence/thought. So I thought Ok the epilogue will complete it, but still no. That didn't do much more. Is there an author interview somewhere that explains the reason for this?
Outside of the ending, the book was good. I thought the two person perspective via the daughters helped bring a different level of emotion to the story especially for Dana's character. I appreciated the author giving us a kind of start to present view into both sets of lives so we could better understand certain decisions and actions. I actually wished we could have known Dana's thoughts during part 2. I wanted to know what finally prompted her to really befriend her sister and tell her she loved her. What was she thinking when she was in their house and having the conversation in the salon with Laverne. How terrified she was in that scene at the gas station when she was held up in the bathroom.
I think uncle Rolley was very interesting also and I would have been curious to understand some of his inner turmoil more.
All in all a solid read except for the ending.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 11-06-12
Enjoyed the read
Would you listen to Silver Sparrow again? Why?
Probably not. I enjoyed listening to it, but don't feel compelled to go back
What was one of the most memorable moments of Silver Sparrow?
When they got stuck at the gas station
What about Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Heather Alicia Simms ’s performance did you like?
I loved their voices
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I had a positive reaction but I would not call it extreme.
Any additional comments?
Characters could have been more fully developed. Also the ending was blah!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jazzman
- 07-21-19
Excellent
Tayari is a great author. I loved this book. She tells a very intriguing story.
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Overall
- TD
- 07-20-19
Good Read
Very interesting story of a very real life situation and struggle of loyalty and emotions.
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- AmazonCustomer
- 11-07-21
Ending a disappointment
The story line and character development was good up and to the ending…it was like the author got tired of the story and just ended the story…so much more room for further character development.
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- Shirley757
- 01-27-21
Just mediocre, no real punch.
This book really didn't grab me as I was expecting. The ending was very predictable.
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- kawanis
- 08-25-21
GOOD , GOOD , GOOD !!!
This is a good listen , It feels like a real life story. It reads true and if you have ever had daddy daughter issues it hits right in the heart.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-09-22
Longer than it needs to be
It took me several times to get through it, I read two other books between. I kept going back though. It wasn’t bad, but it’s not great. It takes FOREVER for the sisters to meet, when it seems like it’s the majority of the book based on the description. There’s so much more detail than there needed to be.
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- Diane
- 05-18-22
Enjoyable Read
A whole new insight on complicated family dynamics. Good descriptions evoking eighties culture. I love how the storyline is first carried by one sister and then completed by the other.
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- SJP
- 01-31-22
Wow
The story pulls you in & keeps you interested for hours/days! Very interesting story. Great narration too.
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