Silver Sparrow is the third book by Tayari Jones. The book is told through the perspective of two sisters who have largely led different lives, thanks to their bigamist father.

When people think of bigamy, they might think of a country like Egypt, where Muslim men are encouraged to take on multiple wives in accordance with their faith. Rarely, will someone bring up individuals in the United States as an example of bigamy/polygamy. But, in this novel, the issue is viewed through a Black American lens.

The first line of the novel reads, "My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist." This is said by Dana Yarboro, James' oldest daughter. She retells her life as her father's "secret" child. James had already had a wife by the time he met Dana's mother Gwen, and shortly after James' wife Laverne, gave birth to their daughter Chaurisse, Gwen pressured James to marry her so that Dana wouldn't be an "out-of-wedlock" child. Since Gwen was technically James' mistress and someone he only married to keep quiet, he works hard to keep his two lives separate and goes to great lengths to prevent Dana and Chaurisse (and Gwen and Laverne, for that matter) from ever crossing paths. This level of separation causes Dana to miss out on many dreams and desires that she wants, such as not being able to go to the college she dreamed of going to because Chaurisse picked it first, or being able to even meet her sister at all.

Grief is a big theme in the novel, particularly as it pertains to Dana. James is someone she knows is her father, but someone who is very inactive in her life. She only sees him on Wednesdays, which is his designated day of the week to eat dinner with her and her mother. James also makes it very clear that although he loves her, he does not love her enough to integrate her and her mother into his other life. Dana's mother is her biggest advocate, constantly pushing James to acknowledge her and Dana and own up to his mess. But, he refuses.

The other theme that is addressed in the novel is perspective. Dana lived a life where she was often ignored and pushed to the side in order to allow Chaurisse to shine, which caused a lot of resentment towards her and her mother. But, it is later revealed that Chaurisse didn't have this perfect life that Dana and Gwen thought, and that she was a flawed individual who had been dealing with her own issues with James.

What I loved the most about this book is how the flaws of the characters are put on display. I read An American Marriage prior to reading this book, and what I loved the most about that novel is how the protagonist, Roy, was greatly flawed. This is true for Silver Sparrow as well. Dana and Chaurisse are both flawed in their own ways, but these flaws are mainly created by the wrongdoings of their father, James. He is a self-centered individual who disregards his own daughter because of his own idiotic choice. He decided to cheat on Laverne and sleep with Gwendolyn. It was also his choice to not come clean about Dana's existence

until the end of the book (which actually wasn't something he willingly did; Dana had to expose the secret herself just to get him to acknowledge anything).

 

This is the third novel I've read by Tayari so far. All there's left to read is The Untelling, which I'm very excited to start. From all the books I've read by her so far, I know I won't be disappointed.