Second Monday Book Discussion: Maud Martha
Monday, October 5, 2026 · 6:30 PM EDT · Forbes Library · Northampton, MA
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About this event
Watson Room. We'll be reading Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks. About the book: Maud Martha Brown is a little girl growing up on the South Side of 1940s Chicago. Amidst the crumbling taverns and overgrown yards, she dreams: of New York, romance, her future. She admires dandelions, learns to drink coffee, falls in love, decorates her kitchenette, visits the Jungly Hovel, guts a chicken, buys hats, gives birth. But her lighter-skinned husband has dreams too: of the Foxy Cats Club, other women, war. And the ''scraps of baffled hate'' – a certain word from a saleswoman; that visit to the cinema; the cruelty of a department store Santa Claus– are always there … Written in 1953, Maud Martha is a poetic collage of happenings that forms an extraordinary portrait of an ordinary life: one lived with wisdom, humor, protest, rage, dignity, and joy. Literary minded discussion. Open to new members. Join us in person or join via Zoom!
Description from forbeslibrary.libcal.com