My summer reads haven't been too promising, but Anita Diamant certainly gave me hope.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Red Tent and Day After Night, comes an unforgettable coming-of-age novel about family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes of young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century. Addie Baum is The Boston Girl, born in 1900 to immigrant parents who were unprepared for and suspicious of America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie's intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can't imagine - a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love.
Eighty-five-year-old Addie tells the story of her life to her twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, who has asked her "How did you get to be the woman you are today." She begins in 1915, the year she found her voice and made friends who would help shape the course of her life. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, Addie recalls her adventures with compassion for the naïve girl she was and a wicked sense of humor. Written with the same attention to historical detail and emotional resonance that made Anita Diamant's previous novels bestsellers, The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman’s complicated life in twentieth century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world.
I'm not going to lie this book semi-surprised me. I picked it up at the library the day before I went on a trip and I thought the big lettering within the book would be good to read in low lighting while traveling. I haven't been too captivated by a book in a little while, so for me to read over 100 pages on an hour train ride meant that it was looking good for my literary companion. It wasn't a truly 5 star rated read like maybe Still Missing by Chevy Stevens or Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (which is kind of an unfair comparison because those books are thrillers and this was historical fiction), but it was enjoyable and easy to read.
I really don't know if I liked this book or not, well I liked it but I didn't like it. Following me? I think I was more surprised that it sucked me in so quickly that I overlooked any boring non-captivating parts. It was a perfectly fine book, I mean I actually sat down and read the whole thing, not just skimmed certain parts. I practically devoured the first 100 pages on the first hour of my trip, but after the first 150 pages or so I stopped really liking it and it was just eh. I didn't feel that there was a real climax to this book, stuff just sort of happened. Maybe because of its unique narrative where our main character Addie is dictating the story of her life to her granddaughter could have been the culprit of the non-climactic story-line.
It wasn't a bad story to tell, because it did suck you into turn of the century Boston. Which I thought was an interesting setting because more often than not turn of the century immigrant stories are typically set in New York City focusing on an Irish or Italian family. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, so I enjoyed reading about Boston's then gritty less charming North End. At times I would forget that it was fiction and not a memoir because the tone of the book makes it feel more like the latter. The Boston Girl is very well written and the narrative will draw you in quite quickly. I can't guarantee that it will hold you because it didn't necessarily hold me for the last 150 pages or so, but its an easy enough read (and interesting enough) that you don't feel cheated once you finish. Again I liked this book, but it didn't blow my mind. I think this would be nice for high schoolers in an American History class. I think Diamant did a fabulous job of researching and executing this to be as "true" as possible and I appreciate that as a history lover. This book gets 3 stars, not overly good or horrible, just plain average.
<3's Laterz!
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Red Tent and Day After Night, comes an unforgettable coming-of-age novel about family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes of young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century. Addie Baum is The Boston Girl, born in 1900 to immigrant parents who were unprepared for and suspicious of America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie's intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can't imagine - a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love.
Eighty-five-year-old Addie tells the story of her life to her twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, who has asked her "How did you get to be the woman you are today." She begins in 1915, the year she found her voice and made friends who would help shape the course of her life. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, Addie recalls her adventures with compassion for the naïve girl she was and a wicked sense of humor. Written with the same attention to historical detail and emotional resonance that made Anita Diamant's previous novels bestsellers, The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman’s complicated life in twentieth century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world.
I'm not going to lie this book semi-surprised me. I picked it up at the library the day before I went on a trip and I thought the big lettering within the book would be good to read in low lighting while traveling. I haven't been too captivated by a book in a little while, so for me to read over 100 pages on an hour train ride meant that it was looking good for my literary companion. It wasn't a truly 5 star rated read like maybe Still Missing by Chevy Stevens or Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (which is kind of an unfair comparison because those books are thrillers and this was historical fiction), but it was enjoyable and easy to read.
I really don't know if I liked this book or not, well I liked it but I didn't like it. Following me? I think I was more surprised that it sucked me in so quickly that I overlooked any boring non-captivating parts. It was a perfectly fine book, I mean I actually sat down and read the whole thing, not just skimmed certain parts. I practically devoured the first 100 pages on the first hour of my trip, but after the first 150 pages or so I stopped really liking it and it was just eh. I didn't feel that there was a real climax to this book, stuff just sort of happened. Maybe because of its unique narrative where our main character Addie is dictating the story of her life to her granddaughter could have been the culprit of the non-climactic story-line.
It wasn't a bad story to tell, because it did suck you into turn of the century Boston. Which I thought was an interesting setting because more often than not turn of the century immigrant stories are typically set in New York City focusing on an Irish or Italian family. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, so I enjoyed reading about Boston's then gritty less charming North End. At times I would forget that it was fiction and not a memoir because the tone of the book makes it feel more like the latter. The Boston Girl is very well written and the narrative will draw you in quite quickly. I can't guarantee that it will hold you because it didn't necessarily hold me for the last 150 pages or so, but its an easy enough read (and interesting enough) that you don't feel cheated once you finish. Again I liked this book, but it didn't blow my mind. I think this would be nice for high schoolers in an American History class. I think Diamant did a fabulous job of researching and executing this to be as "true" as possible and I appreciate that as a history lover. This book gets 3 stars, not overly good or horrible, just plain average.
<3's Laterz!
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