The Women of Brewster Place

The Women of Brewster Place (1982) is the debut novel of American author Gloria Naylor. It won the National Book Award in the category First Novel. It was adapted as the 1989 miniseries The Women of Brewster Place and the 1990 television show Brewster Place by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. The book explores the lives of seven Black women who live at Brewster Place, a tenement building in the poorer parts of an unnamed US city. It examines female relationships in terms of friendship and romantic love, as well as themes of sisterhood, violence, and sexuality. In each of the "Seven Stories" of its subtitle, one or more of the seven women are involved with the main character of that particular story, such as Mattie appearing in Etta Mae's story or Kiswana showing up in Cora Lee's.