From Publishers Weekly
Forty years after Brown Girls, Brownstones, Marshall's triumphant new novel reminds us why she is one of our premier African-American voices. Readers slowly decipher a two-family drama through the eyes of an engaging eight-year-old boy. In 1940s Brooklyn, well-to-do Florence McCullum takes fierce pride in her elegant home and daughter Cherisse, who has a promising future as a singer and performer. Her best friend and neighbor, Ulene Payne, a widowed West Indian domestic, is as proud of her two sons, Edgar and Everett (Sonny-Rett). She makes great sacrifices to provide Sonny-Rett with piano lessons, but he eventually rejects classical music in favor of jazz. As Sonny-Rett's fame and reputation grow, Cherisse loses focus on her budding career, and with her friend Hattie Carmichael, follows Sonny-Rett to his gigs; soon Hattie handles his business matters and Cherisse becomes his wife. Unwilling to endure their parents' disappointment and American racism, the trio moves to Europe, cutting almost all ties; each family blames the other, and a bitter feud is born. Four decades later, when the novel begins, Edgar, a successful developer, decides to inaugurate the new neighborhood music hall with a memorial concert in his dead brother's honor. He locates Sonny-Rett's grandson and namesake, now living with Hattie in Paris, and flies the two to the U.S. for the occasion. Ulene and Florence quickly become enamored of the bilingual youngster. His innocent presence, coupled with memories stirred by preparations for the concert, lead the surviving family members to reevaluate their relationships, resolve old arguments and keep the feud from poisoning another generation. Marshall writes with verve, clarity and humor, capturing the cadences of black speech while deftly portraying the complexity of family relationships and the social issues that beset black Americans. A surprise twist at the end brings Marshall's finely tuned drama to a satisfying, redemptive close. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Marshall, in her first novel in nine years (following Daughters), paints a compassionate and satisfying portrait of a family trying to redeem itself after years of hurt and recrimination. Sonny Payne is a bright eight year old from a poor Parisian neighborhood brought to Brooklyn to visit relatives he didn't know he hadDa family torn apart when his grandfather, a jazz pianist, married his grandmother and moved to France. As Sonny learns about his family's history, he learns to care for its members, as they learn to heal old wounds and reveal long-held secrets. Marshall refuses to let Sonny, a normal boy who draws, plays, and yearns for a dog, become an icon, and she shows all of her characters the same affection and understanding she would give members of her own family. Marshall's renowned sense of place and ear for dialog make this novel a delight to read. Highly recommended.-DEllen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion County P.L., IN Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
It has been a very good year for jazz novels. Following Jack Fuller's Best of Jackson Payne , Marshall, the celebrated author of Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959), offers this resonant story of a family in turmoil over the memory of Sonny-Rett Payne, a jazz pianist who fled the racism of New York for Paris in 1949. The action is set in the present, as Sonny's brother, Edgar, now a successful businessman in Brooklyn, organizes a memorial concert for his brother and lures Hattie Carmichael, Sonny's former lover, who lives in Paris with Sonny's grandchild, back to the States for the event. The narrative jumps from the present, as Edgar subtly attempts to gain custody of young Sonny, and the past, as Hattie remembers Sonny-Rett, his music, his wife, and their unconventional life in Paris. Jazz gives the novel its pulse, but finally this is a family drama, and Marshall beautifully evokes the myriad ways that families are torn asunder when love and power intermingle. "There's all kinds of family, and blood's got nothing to do with it," Hattie asserts. Marshall makes us see that she is both right and wrong. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Grace Paley Author of Just As I Thought Two intransigent old women, a couple of gentrified Brooklyn brownstones generations past Brown Girl, Brownstones, a son -- a jazz musician -- driven in those years to Paris, a lovely French-speaking grandson at his grandfather's pianola, other voices, lives, four generations looking at one another. A solid stubborn?beautiful?book. ?


Book Description
In 1949, Sonny-Rett Payne, a black jazz pianist, fled New York for Paris to escape both his family's disapproval of his art and the racism that shadowed his career. His spectacular success in Europe and his subsequent death there form the dramatic background of Paule Marshall's gorgeous fifth novel, a moving and revelatory story of jazz, love, family conflict, and the artist's struggles in society. Decades after Sonny-Rett left, his eight-year-old Parisian grandson is brought to his old Brooklyn neighborhood to attend a memorial concert in Payne's honor. The child's visit reveals the persistent rivalries within the family and the community that drove his grandfather into exile. Will the young boy be a harbinger of change and reconciliation or a pawn in the power struggle of those who now wish to claim him in Sonny-Rett's name? Marshall, who grew up in Brooklyn and set her first novel there -- the classic Brown Girl, Brownstones -- deftly makes the neighborhood itself a protagonist. With characters of astonishing depth and complexity, she chronicles the myths, betrayals, and angers that can alienate people for decades. Yet The Fisher King offers hope in the healing and redemptive power of one memorable boy.


About the Author
Paule Marshall teaches in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University, where her yearly reading series featuring the work of young black writers is a popular event. She is the author of six books, including her classic novel Brown Girl, Brownstones. Among her many awards and honors are a John Dos Passos Award for Literature, an American Book Award, and a MacArthur Fellowship. She lives in New York City and Richmond, Virginia.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Our Review
And a Child Shall Lead Them
The greatest test of a writer's ability is longevity, the ability to produce consistently excellent work over the length of a career. Precious few writers fit this criteria as does Paule Marshall, whose first and most influential novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones, appeared in 1959. With her powers of observation even sharper now, she returns with The Fisher King, a fresh, nuanced exploration of identity and family conflict.

Brown Girl, Brownstones merits a revered place in the pantheon of black literature for many reasons, especially its non-stereotypical characters and its clear-eyed recognition of the cultural and social similarities (and differences) between the African-American and West Indian communities. The daughter of second-generation Barbadian immigrants, Marshall knows whereof she writes. And while The Fisher King reprises themes that appear in all of her novels, here the special emphasis is on the internalized conflicts and nurtured hurts that can wreak havoc on a family.

The mayhem and squabbles among family and friends begins when Edgar Payne, the brother of the late jazz pianist Sonny-Rett Payne, proposes a memorial service for the controversial musician in his old Brooklyn neighborhood. Edgar, who had never really understood his brother, brings Sonny's eight-year-old grandson from Paris, stirring old rivalries and feuds. Soon Sonny, the youngster named for his celebrated grandfather, finds himself in the middle of a tug-of-war between the African-American and West Indian elements of the family. The boy, the eyes and ears for much of what occurs during his stay, is observant, diplomatic, and the catalyst for the tidal wave of change that sweeps up everyone involved in the memorial and visit.

Despite a familiar theme (a black jazz musician in Paris), Marshall employs fictional approaches that refresh the scenario, stressing Sonny-Rett's growth and maturation as an artist, his disgust with American racism and the petty bickering within his family, and the high emotional cost of living in exile. Flashbacks, concise and superbly constructed, flesh out the man who was misunderstood by many in his family and craft. Sonny-Rett, even after his passing, is a dominant force and an integral part of the novel. As for locales, Marshall's Brooklyn is as distinct, colorful, and alive as Dickens's hardscrabble London, Moravia's seductive Rome, or Faulkner's mythic Yoknapatawpha County. Her narrative captures every telling detail about this borough of neighborhoods, its ethnic mix, unique energy, and special character. Note her almost photographic description of Mrs. McCullum's antique-filled brownstone on Macon Street at the book's opening; the highly visual view of Edgar's restaurant on Reid Avenue; or the gifted historian's recounting of Albemarle Road. Marshall is masterful, too, in the richness of her female characters: young and old, the women are tangible, immediately and intimately recognizable, their humanity to be treasured. And while the men -- with the exception of Sonny-Rett -- lack this fine sense of completeness, they serve ably as foils and supports, allowing the women to strut their stuff.

These women -- Florence, Hattie, Dora, and even Madame Molineaux -- reveal Marshall's talent for portraying the female temperament and psyche in all of its wondrous glory. The conflicts between them -- each has her own particular prejudices and grudges -- threaten to disrupt the memorial, as each woman must revisit her role in forcing Sonny's sudden departure to France. What did I do to drive Sonny away? How can I make it up to his grandson? Will I seek the forgiveness of the others? And can I forgive and forget? These questions define the moral center of the book.

The story's resolution is both startling and natural, an outgrowth of the characters and their choices, without a bow to sentiment or cheap melodrama. To reveal more would be criminal. With so much skill that it feels effortless, Marshall builds the surroundings, the stage, upon which she sets the players into action. Her sense of place is sheer artistry, drawing the reader into the characters and their world. The Fisher King is a solid literary effort by a talented writer blessed by longevity.

Robert Fleming is the author of many books, including The African-American Writer's Handbook: How to Get in Print and Stay in Print. He lives in New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1949, Sonny-Rett Payne, a black jazz pianist, fled New York for Paris to escape both his family's disapproval of his art and the racism that shadowed his career. His spectacular success in Europe and his subsequent death there form the dramatic background of Paule Marshall's gorgeous fifth novel, a moving and revelatory story of jazz, love, family conflict, and the artist's struggles in society.

Decades after Sonny-Rett left, his eight-year-old Parisian grandson is brought to his old Brooklyn neighborhood to attend a memorial concert in Payne's honor. The child's visit reveals the persistent rivalries within the family and the community that drove his grandfather into exile. Will the young boy be a harbinger of change and reconciliation or a pawn in the power struggle of those who now wish to claim him in Sonny-Rett's name?

Marshall, who grew up in Brooklyn and set her first novel there -- the classic Brown Girl, Brownstones -- deftly makes the neighborhood itself a protagonist. With characters of astonishing depth and complexity, she chronicles the myths, betrayals, and angers that can alienate people for decades. Yet The Fisher King offers hope in the healing and redemptive power of one memorable boy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Forty years after Brown Girls, Brownstones, Marshall's triumphant new novel reminds us why she is one of our premier African-American voices. Readers slowly decipher a two-family drama through the eyes of an engaging eight-year-old boy. In 1940s Brooklyn, well-to-do Florence McCullum takes fierce pride in her elegant home and daughter Cherisse, who has a promising future as a singer and performer. Her best friend and neighbor, Ulene Payne, a widowed West Indian domestic, is as proud of her two sons, Edgar and Everett (Sonny-Rett). She makes great sacrifices to provide Sonny-Rett with piano lessons, but he eventually rejects classical music in favor of jazz. As Sonny-Rett's fame and reputation grow, Cherisse loses focus on her budding career, and with her friend Hattie Carmichael, follows Sonny-Rett to his gigs; soon Hattie handles his business matters and Cherisse becomes his wife. Unwilling to endure their parents' disappointment and American racism, the trio moves to Europe, cutting almost all ties; each family blames the other, and a bitter feud is born. Four decades later, when the novel begins, Edgar, a successful developer, decides to inaugurate the new neighborhood music hall with a memorial concert in his dead brother's honor. He locates Sonny-Rett's grandson and namesake, now living with Hattie in Paris, and flies the two to the U.S. for the occasion. Ulene and Florence quickly become enamored of the bilingual youngster. His innocent presence, coupled with memories stirred by preparations for the concert, lead the surviving family members to reevaluate their relationships, resolve old arguments and keep the feud from poisoning another generation. Marshall writes with verve, clarity and humor, capturing the cadences of black speech while deftly portraying the complexity of family relationships and the social issues that beset black Americans. A surprise twist at the end brings Marshall's finely tuned drama to a satisfying, redemptive close. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal