March Reads – The Girls

 

“Life is a continuous backing away from the edge.” If you don’t do dark and twisty, close out this review. However, if you’re fascinated by true crime or fiction based on infamous crime, keep reading.

The Girls commences with such blunt, dissavory prose, I almost stopped reading. It’s not that the language is so revolting (though there is some), so much as the tone and imagery quite overwhelm the senses at certain junctures; this does dissipate a bit up until the climax of the novel.

The truth is I’m not into 60’s/70’s periods pieces, but for this Mansonesque tale, I made an exception. 14 year old Evie Boyd (the narrator) delivers a haunting and believable account of her low self esteem and how it led her to seek out the company of Suzanne and others living in a Ranch-style cult led by guru, Russell.

I can’t help but ruminate on the Patriarchy, and the many ways women of this era allowed themselves to be subject to domination from amoral male figures.

This book is not exactly my wheelhouse with it’s stark prose, but I promise you’ll keep reading to see what befalls Evie in the end.

4/5 stars – a memorable read.

If you’d like to purchase this book, click on the picture below to order directly from Amazon.