Betsey Brown

An award-winning writer brings to life the story of a young girl's awakening amidst her country's seismic growing pains in the American South.

“A lyrical coming-of-age novel.” —New York Times

Set in St. Louis in 1957, the year of the Little Rock Nine, Ntozake Shange's story reveals the prismatic effect of racism on an American child and her family. Seamlessly woven into this masterful portrait of an extended family is the story of Betsey's adolescence, the rush of first romance, and the sobering responsibilities of approaching adulthood.

“Shange has re-created a humorous, charming, and heartbreaking vision of St. Louis and the Brown family that will delight young and old. She can conjure, as if by magic. . . . Betsey Brown is like an enchanting melody.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Ntozake Shange is a unique and gifted, literary executant and works under strong impulses to do things her own way despite settled conventions of craft. The author’s peculiar chemistry (a synonym for talent), plus her singlemindedness, has brought her a decided victory. She has made Betsey Brown live. We care about the child and wonder what will happen to her, how she will fare. This doubtless was the author’s intention—and mission.” —Chicago Sun Times