Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Vintage (1989), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 312 pages
Description
A "wonderful novel" steeped in the folklore of the South from the New York Times-bestselling author of The Women of Brewster Place (The Washington Post Book World). On an island off the coast of Georgia, there's a place where superstition is more potent than any trappings of the modern world. In Willow Springs, the formidable Mama Day uses her powers to heal. But her great niece, Cocoa, can't wait to get away. In New York City, Cocoa meets George. They fall in love and marry quickly. But when she finally brings him home to Willow Springs, the island's darker forces come into play. As their connection is challenged, Cocoa and George must rely on Mama Day's mysticism. Told from multiple perspectives, Mama Day is equal parts star-crossed love story, generational saga, and exploration of the supernatural. Hailed as Gloria Naylor's "richest and most complex" novel, it is the kind of book that stays with you long after the final page (Providence Journal). … (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mckait
This is a story filled with the magic of full rich characters,
most of them strong and loving women. Much of it takes place
on Willow Island, a barrier island off the shores of Georgia and
South Carolina. The residents of Willow Island live a life similar
to that which their ancestors lived a hundred
did have modern conveniences, they certainly didn't depend on
them for happiness. Love, family and tradition ruled their day.
Mama day, Abigail, Cocoa, Ruby and more. They all have their own
story, and they tell it, or have it told in rich mellow voices. I
don't know how anyone can read this book and not love Mama Day and Abigail.
And they have within them a magic all their own. A knowing that has been lost
to most over the generations. I have to believe that they are based on
women known by the author, otherwise how did she make them so real? And
if they are not, all the more kudos to their creator.
Cocoa, a younger woman from their family spends most of her time in New
York City, where she lives, works and falls in love. She too, is quite
a force, but often more negative then she should be. We find out in the
story how life changes her.
most of them strong and loving women. Much of it takes place
on Willow Island, a barrier island off the shores of Georgia and
South Carolina. The residents of Willow Island live a life similar
to that which their ancestors lived a hundred
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years before. While theydid have modern conveniences, they certainly didn't depend on
them for happiness. Love, family and tradition ruled their day.
Mama day, Abigail, Cocoa, Ruby and more. They all have their own
story, and they tell it, or have it told in rich mellow voices. I
don't know how anyone can read this book and not love Mama Day and Abigail.
And they have within them a magic all their own. A knowing that has been lost
to most over the generations. I have to believe that they are based on
women known by the author, otherwise how did she make them so real? And
if they are not, all the more kudos to their creator.
Cocoa, a younger woman from their family spends most of her time in New
York City, where she lives, works and falls in love. She too, is quite
a force, but often more negative then she should be. We find out in the
story how life changes her.
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LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
If someone, like David Wroblewski, wants to write a tragedy he should read a little Gloria Naylor to get some perspective on how it should be done. This is a powerful book with noble people - Mama Day, the matriarch we'd all want to turn to for strength, her loving sister Abigail, the fierce Cocoa,
Recommended for anyone who wants to experience literature at its best.
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the proud and practical George. There's also a trifling worthless man, a colorful character and a mountainous example of wobbly malevolence. The people all interact in a beautiful nowhere island where time passes as it passes and nature, love and loss rule all. Recommended for anyone who wants to experience literature at its best.
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LibraryThing member Antheras
One of my favourite novels and the book that helped me discover the work of Gloria Naylor. The magical realism reminds one of the works of Isabel Allende.
For fans of southern American literature, this is a must read.
For fans of southern American literature, this is a must read.
LibraryThing member lewispike
This is a story in parts - Mama Day strides across most of it like a colossus. I want to call her the matriarch, but she's not a mother. Perhaps the high priestess is a better description.
Cocoa, her grand-niece, and George, Cocoa's husband who ultimately sacrifices himself to save Cocoa's life
And that's the other part of this story. Mama Day lives in a world that we might call magical, although she denies she "does that Hoodoo nonsense." Cocoa crosses that world to the everyday world of job hunting, marriage, dinner parties and the like. George is firmly based in the mundane - he's an engineer who never has the grand idea, but takes the grand ideas of others and turns them into hard reality.
The clash of these ideas and worlds makes for a compelling, fascinating book. Unusually to my mind, George is the character that I strongly suspect most of us will relate to - he's the everyman that relates to this wild, old, confusing world in which his wife grew up.
Cocoa, her grand-niece, and George, Cocoa's husband who ultimately sacrifices himself to save Cocoa's life
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because he can't understand the world he is in.And that's the other part of this story. Mama Day lives in a world that we might call magical, although she denies she "does that Hoodoo nonsense." Cocoa crosses that world to the everyday world of job hunting, marriage, dinner parties and the like. George is firmly based in the mundane - he's an engineer who never has the grand idea, but takes the grand ideas of others and turns them into hard reality.
The clash of these ideas and worlds makes for a compelling, fascinating book. Unusually to my mind, George is the character that I strongly suspect most of us will relate to - he's the everyman that relates to this wild, old, confusing world in which his wife grew up.
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LibraryThing member irckigalirw
This is a story in parts - Mama Day strides across most of it like a colossus. I want to call her the matriarch, but she's not a mother. Perhaps the high priestess is a better description.
Cocoa, her grand-niece, and George, Cocoa's husband who ultimately sacrifices himself to save Cocoa's life
And that's the other part of this story. Mama Day lives in a world that we might call magical, although she denies she "does that Hoodoo nonsense." Cocoa crosses that world to the everyday world of job hunting, marriage, dinner parties and the like. George is firmly based in the mundane - he's an engineer who never has the grand idea, but takes the grand ideas of others and turns them into hard reality.
The clash of these ideas and worlds makes for a compelling, fascinating book. Unusually to my mind, George is the character that I strongly suspect most of us will relate to - he's the everyman that relates to this wild, old, confusing world in which his wife grew up
Cocoa, her grand-niece, and George, Cocoa's husband who ultimately sacrifices himself to save Cocoa's life
Show More
because he can't understand the world he is in.And that's the other part of this story. Mama Day lives in a world that we might call magical, although she denies she "does that Hoodoo nonsense." Cocoa crosses that world to the everyday world of job hunting, marriage, dinner parties and the like. George is firmly based in the mundane - he's an engineer who never has the grand idea, but takes the grand ideas of others and turns them into hard reality.
The clash of these ideas and worlds makes for a compelling, fascinating book. Unusually to my mind, George is the character that I strongly suspect most of us will relate to - he's the everyman that relates to this wild, old, confusing world in which his wife grew up
Show Less
LibraryThing member ratastrophe
An immensely moving book with so much to say on the meanings of love, fidelity, and strength. Multiple protagonists and narrators were woven together into one cohesive story that is truly compelling; I found myself stopping and rereading passages not because I didn't understand them the first time
One of my favorite lines of dialogue:
How can I go with you? she asked him.
One foot before the other, he told her.
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but because I wanted to savor the way that they made me feel.One of my favorite lines of dialogue:
How can I go with you? she asked him.
One foot before the other, he told her.
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LibraryThing member lmm161
It's not often that you read a book that is magical and practical at the same time, but to me, Mama Day straddles both worlds. Set on an island that doesn't belong to South Carolina or Georgia, the story feels like it is set outside of time and space as well. I often think of this book, and the way
For me, there's something magical about the book. I think it may be how it's written, switching perspectives to move the story along. It's a book i often reccomend to family and friends.
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Naylor says that every relationship has four sides-- his side, her side, the inside and the outside. In other words what he thinks, what she thinks, what people see, and what really happens. It's elegant in its simplicity.For me, there's something magical about the book. I think it may be how it's written, switching perspectives to move the story along. It's a book i often reccomend to family and friends.
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LibraryThing member juniperSun
Another strong book by Naylor. A city woman is still tied to her country roots, exemplified by the elder women who raised her. In another author, I would call this magical realism, but here it just seems like daily life. I'm still not sure I understood what Seraphina was all about...the distant
At times I had to be very focused to track which character was speaking/thinking, as they aren't always identified. That was good, in its way, as it kept me engaged with the story.
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past remains shrouded in mystery (or mystique).At times I had to be very focused to track which character was speaking/thinking, as they aren't always identified. That was good, in its way, as it kept me engaged with the story.
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LibraryThing member steller0707
Mama Day! Is it a contemporary story? Yes, partly. Is it a folktale? Yes, partly. Is It history? Yes, partly. In addition, there are influences from Shakespeare and magical realism.
While some of this imaginative story takes place in New York City, most of the action is on Willow Springs, a
I so enjoyed this book that I didn't want it to end!
While some of this imaginative story takes place in New York City, most of the action is on Willow Springs, a
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fictional island that is between, but does not belong to, South Carolina and Georgia. The island has an unusual history and an unusual cast of characters, one of whose three names is Ophelia.I so enjoyed this book that I didn't want it to end!
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Awards
Original publication date
1988
Physical description
312 p.; 6 inches
ISBN
0679721819 / 9780679721819
Local notes
fiction