The Women of Brewster Place

First published in 1982, The Women of Brewster Place is Gloria Naylor’s debut novel and remains the African American author’s best-known work. The Women of Brewster Place was awarded the National Book Award for Best First Novel and was adapted into a miniseries in 1989 and a television show in 1990. Described as “a novel in seven stories,” the text consists of seven chapters that act as short stories, each one detailing the life of a Black woman living in Brewster Place, a dilapidated apartment block on a dead-end street in an unnamed American city. Through these women’s stories, the novel spans approximately 30 years of American history, exploring themes such as the impact of systemic racism and sexism, the search for belonging, and the power of sisterhood to overcome adversity. 

This guide refers to the 2020 Penguin Books Kindle edition. 

Content Warning: Both the source material and this guide include multiple descriptions of violence, racism, anti-gay bias, and sexual assault.

Plot Summary

The novel begins with the construction of Brewster Place, an apartment block in an unnamed American city. At first, the block faces an optimistic future. However, it is soon walled off from the city’s main avenue, creating a dead-end street and stunting the community’s growth. As time passes, different demographics come and go. By the mid-1970s, the novel’s present day, Brewster Place has become a home for African Americans living in poverty. 

The novel’s first chapter tells the story of Mattie Michael, who grows up in Tennessee. At 20, she is seduced by notorious womanizer Butch Fuller and soon discovers that she is pregnant. After being violently beaten by her father, Mattie decides to leave home rather than reveal the identity of the baby’s father. She makes her way north to an unnamed city, where she lives with her friend Etta Mae Johnson and gives birth to a son named Basil. When a rat bites Basil in his sleep, Mattie decides that she cannot stay in the boarding house another minute. She packs immediately, but her limited resources make it hard to find a new room to rent. When she is about to give up, she meets Miss Eva Turner, who invites Mattie to stay with her and her granddaughter, Lucielia.

Mattie and Basil live in Eva’s house for 30 years. When Eva dies, Mattie buys the place. She works hard to pay the mortgage and dedicates herself to her son, but Basil grows up selfish and inconsiderate. One night, he is involved in a bar fight that results in the death of a man. Basil is arrested, and Mattie uses the house as collateral to pay his bail, even though his trial is only two weeks away and the lawyer is confident that the charges will be dropped. A few days before Basil is due to appear in court, he vanishes. Mattie loses the house and ends up moving into Brewster Place.

The second chapter tells the story of Mattie’s good friend, Etta Mae Johnson. As a teenager and young woman, Etta always finds herself in trouble. She has traveled from city to city, finding men to support her along the way. Now, she returns from her latest “business opportunity” with a man in Florida, and Etta is ready to settle down and find love. Mattie invites her to church, guaranteeing that Etta will meet some eligible men there. Etta immediately sets her sights on the handsome guest preacher. As they flirt after the service, Mattie has doubts about the preacher’s intentions, but Etta is convinced this is her chance to become the wife of a respectable man. Later that night, as they have sex in a cheap hotel room, Etta realizes that, just like other men, the preacher only wants her for her body. She goes home to Brewster Place, tired and disappointed. However, she sees that the lights are on; Mattie is waiting up for her, and she feels comforted by her friend’s love. 

Chapter 3 tells the story of Kiswana Browne, a young Black woman who grows up in a middle-class Black neighborhood. In college, Kiswana changes her name and drops out of her “counterrevolutionary” school so that she can be in the streets supporting the Black Power movement. When her mother comes to see her new apartment, she accuses her parents of being too comfortable in their middle-class existence to care about “the revolution.” Mrs. Browne reminds Kiswana of her own family history, insisting that she doesn’t have to reach back to Africa to be proud of her heritage. By the end of Mrs. Browne’s visit, she and her daughter come to a better understanding. 

The fourth chapter is the story of Lucielia Louise Turner, Miss Eva’s granddaughter. Lucielia, nicknamed Ciel, is now in a relationship with a man named Eugene, and they have a baby daughter named Serena. When Eugene loses his job, he becomes angry and aggressive with Ciel. She discovers that she is pregnant again, but to please Eugene, she gets an abortion. However, after the abortion, she struggles emotionally and becomes possessive of her daughter. One day, Eugene tells Ciel that he is leaving to pursue a job in Maine. While they argue in the bedroom, Serena plays by herself. When she sees a roach run into an electrical socket, she tries to reach it with a fork and electrocutes herself. After Serena’s death, Ciel falls into depression. She refuses to eat or speak and spends her days sitting in bed, waiting to die. Mattie (the protagonist in Chapter 2) realizes the gravity of Ciel’s situation. She rocks Ciel and bathes her, allowing the woman to release her pain and begin to heal.

Chapter 5 follows the story of Cora Lee. Ever since she was a child, Cora has always loved babies. She asked for baby dolls for Christmas every single year as a child and began having real babies as soon as possible. Now, Cora lives in a crowded apartment with her pack of children, most of whom have different fathers. While Cora loves babies, she loses interest in the children as they grow older, and she spends her days in front of the television while her children rush around the apartment. One day, Kiswana (the protagonist from Chapter 3) visits, hoping to recruit Cora for the tenant’s association that she is trying to form. She invites Cora and the children to a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which her boyfriend is producing in a nearby park. The next day, with an unusual burst of energy, Cora gets everyone ready for the play. In the park, Cora and the children are transfixed, and Cora resolves to be a better mother and prepare her children for a better future. However, upon returning, one of the nameless men she often sleeps with is waiting for her, and Cora slips into bed with him.

In Chapter 6, a lesbian couple, Lorraine and Theresa, move to Brewster Place. At first, the community is welcoming, but soon, the other women begin to suspect that the women are more than just friends. Lorraine, who lives in fear of losing her job if someone finds out about her romantic relationship with Theresa, wants desperately to be included in the community and is devastated when the other women turn against her. The tension in Brewster Place also wears on Lorraine and Theresa’s relationship, and they start to argue more. Lorraine takes refuge in the company of Ben, Brewster Place’s janitor, who has an alcohol addiction. Ben is estranged from his daughter, and Lorraine is estranged from her father, so the two build a special connection. One night while coming home alone from a club, Lorraine is assaulted by a group of men. They brutally rape her and leave her for dead in an alley. As dawn breaks, Lorraine sees Ben sitting outside, having his morning drink. She crawls toward him and smashes his head with a brick, killing him.

In the final chapter, the residents of Brewster Place prepare for a block party to raise money for the new tenants’ association. After Ben’s death, rain falls for a week. The residents of Brewster Place become restless indoors, and all the women have strange dreams about Lorraine. Mattie has a dream about the block party. All of the residents come together, and as the party is progressing, the rain clouds begin to gather again. Cora Lee notices some blood on the wall at the end of the street and begins frantically pulling out bricks. The other women help, and soon, everyone is working together to tear down the wall in the rain. Then, Mattie wakes up to the sun shining on the real day of the block party. The novel closes with a final interlude detailing the death of Brewster Place. Eventually, its “colored daughters” are forced to move out, and the building is condemned. However, the women still hold onto their dreams, and Brewster Place continues to live on in spirit.