Silver Sparrow is an audiobook by Tayari Jones, narrated by Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Heather Alicia Simms. The unabridged Audible edition runs 10 hrs 23 mins.
Publisher’s Summary
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.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Heather Alicia Simms
- Length: 10 hrs 23 mins
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Release year: 2011
- Audible category: Literature & Fiction / Genre Fiction / Family Life
Listener Ratings
Silver Sparrow holds an average listener rating of 4.4/5 from 2965 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.6/5
- Story: 4.4/5
- 5-star ratings: 59% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
3/5 stars — “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.
— Keisha, Audible listener
4/5 stars — “Enjoyed the read”
Probably not. I enjoyed listening to it, but don’t feel compelled to go back When they got stuck at the gas station I loved their voices I had a positive reaction but I would not call it extreme. Characters could have been more fully developed. Also the ending was blah!— Michael, Audible listener
3/5 stars — “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.— Audible customer, Audible listener
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