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 … 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).
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I love this book. It is one of my favorite books of all time.
This was a book that carried me to a place that I know little about but felt very comfortable exploring. While I am a skeptic about the magical and folk medicine treatments, this book made me think that there is a place for the unexplainable in our lives. The characters were well wrought and believable. The dialogue between the two lovers was beautiful yet realistic in its depiction of conflict.
I have always been more of a backlist reader than a new release reader. There are so many books published, and it is impossible to keep up as a reader. However, on social media and throughout the publishing world, the new release books especially in fiction are celebrated and promoted. I totally get it. There is nothing like a new book in your hand or on your eBook device as a reader. There is something about newness that creates anticipation and excitement.
However, a solid novel like Mama Day by Gloria Naylor will get overlooked because it was published in 1988. On the surface, it would be considered a book of its time and not reflect our current world in 2021. One of the major things I love about reading is that a good story can transcend its own era and connect universally with what it means to be human.
Mama Day is a novel of both character and setting. Ophelia Day (aka Cocoa) is the protagonist and tells the story of leaving her birthplace of the Georgia Sea Island, Willow Springs, in order to become a modern woman in New York City. Also, Willow Springs is a protagonist in the story and plays a prominent role when Ophelia returns with her husband, George, a well-off business person she met during a job interview.
The daily life of elderly Mama Day and her sister, Abigail were told in the story and their connection to the slave woman from whom the Days descended was established. Naylor drew well from the spirituality, mysticism, and eccentric characters of the island, and reading the story pulled me into that world.
Some say that Naylor was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest. I have not read The Tempest and can not make a claim how much of an influence Naylor gained from it in her novel. However, Cocoa and George’s relationship definitely has a tragic outcome and did not catch me off-guard as a reader.
I totally enjoyed novels with a great setting, and Naylor delivers that well with Willow Springs. The strength of her writing kept me engaged despite my ambivalent feelings about Cocoa and George. Mama Day is considered Naylor’s best book and deserves to be more known amongst readers of the social media age. She does not get mentioned as one of the great black women writers like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Edwidge Danticat, Octavia Butler, or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but Gloria Naylor belongs in that company and Mama Day is her entry point to that type of status.
For several years after reading this book I gave it to everyone I knew. Absolutely amazing.
One of my favorite books, this was good enough for a recent re-read… and maybe another in a few years. A hefty slice of mysterious/magical Southern culture.
Momma Day was one of those books that just nudged my view of the universe into a more magical place.
Well written book, but I felt this writer definitely had anger issues directed toward everyone because of her race.
Enjoyed this book
I love this book!