No Crystal Stair
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 | |
| Author | Mairuth Sarsfield |
|---|---|
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Set in | 1940s Little Burgundy |
Publication date | 1997 |
| ISBN | 1-896867-02-2 |
No Crystal Stair is a 1997 novel by Canadian author Mairuth Sarsfield.[1][2] It is a coming-of-age story set in the Little Burgundy district of Montreal during the 1940s.
The title is a reference to the line "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair" in Langston Hughes's poem "Mother to Son".
Widow Marion Willow works at two jobs to raise her three daughters properly. Fighting racism and sexism, Marion schools her girls in manners, English poetry and the need for an education; her elegant neighbour and rival (both women are in love with railway porter Edmund Thompson) teaches the children the ways of the street and their black cultural heritage.