The Girls
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The Girls
Buy Now for £13.52
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Narrated by:
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Cady McClain
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By:
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Emma Cline
California. The summer of 1969. In the dying days of a floundering counterculture, a young girl is unwittingly caught up in unthinkable violence, and a decision made at this moment, on the cusp of adulthood, will shape her life....
Evie Boyd is desperate to be noticed. In the summer of 1969, empty days stretch out under the California sun. The smell of honeysuckle thickens the air, and the sidewalks radiate heat.
Until she sees them. The snatch of cold laughter. Hair long and uncombed. Dirty dresses skimming the tops of thighs. Cheap rings like a second set of knuckles. The girls. And at the centre, Russell. Russell and the ranch, down a long dirt track and deep in the hills. Incense and clumsily strummed chords. Rumours of sex, frenzied gatherings, teen runaways.
Was there a warning, a sign of things to come? Or is Evie already too enthralled by the girls to see that her life is about to be changed forever?
©2016 Emma Cline (P)2016 Audible, LtdCritic reviews
"I don't know which is more amazing, Emma Cline's understanding of human beings or her mastery of language." (Mark Haddon)
"Emma Cline's first novel positively hums with fresh, startling, luminous prose. The Girls announces the arrival of a thrilling new voice in American fiction." (Jennifer Egan)
"Emma Cline has an unparalleled eye for the intricacies of girlhood, turning the stuff of myth into something altogether more intimate. The Girls destroys our ability to consider violence a foreign territory, and reminds us that behind so many of our culture's fables exists a girl: unseen, unheard, angry. This book will break your heart and blow your mind." (Lena Dunham)
Anyway, after loving a couple of Cline’s short stories and having completely forgotten what The Girls was about, I bought the audio on a whim. Whoops.
But against all expectations, it was excellent. Rather than glorifying a grisly series of murders, it’s a nuanced study of teenage angst and vulnerability. Evie lives in N California, is 14 and something of an outsider; ‘I was an average girl and that was the biggest disappointment of all.’ After a chance encounter with three girls, she becomes infatuated with them and is drawn into their cult, spiralling into a dream-like existence of sex, drugs and crime. Cline does a brilliant job of balancing Evie’s distaste at the squalid lifestyle with her willingness to embrace it in a desperate need to belong.
’Back then I was so attuned to attention. I dressed to provoke love, hugging my neckline lower, setting a wistful stare on my face whenever I went out in public that implied many deep and promising thoughts, should anyone happen to glance over.’
A secondary timeline introduces Evie in middle-age when she meets a friend’s son and girlfriend. In part it’s a musing on Evie’s adolescence, but more significantly a subtle observation on how the desire to be accepted can lead to manipulation and abuse. The more I’ve reflected on The Girls, the more powerful I’ve found this secondary timeline. Both are heartbreakingly, stomach-churningly relatable, but it’s the relative everydayness of the second one that delivers the gut-punch.
As a word of caution, given the curious Shatner-esque style of narration, I’m hesitant to recommend the audio. There were. Pauses. In the most unlikely places and it was somewhat. Distracting. But it’s entirely possible this is a thing, in the way uptalk emerged in the 80s and is now normalised.
A solid four. Stars.
Excellent
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I found I wanted to shake Evie at times but then I cheered her on
a good listen recommend ed
powerful sad gripping
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Underwhelming 'Manson inspired' tale
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The writer captures that very well and imagines many of the period idiosyncrasies very well, she is also a very good writer that manages to explore a young woman's sexuality without fear and in fresh ways, the violence is not titillating or overly emphasized but the moral dilemmas and the struggles and guilt are represented in a very real form.
I enjoyed the book but being from the same period, some of the plot was evident to me before it fully developed, and removed any kind of surprise. The characterizations were very good and the mood was well executed, making it more of a social study than a crime thriller.
Look out helter skelter She's coming down fast
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Where does The Girls rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It ranks highly, it's a good book that is well suited to the audiobook format.What other book might you compare The Girls to, and why?
It feels quite unique but has a shadow of the growing dread and pervading sense of guilt found in We Need To Talk About Kevin.Which scene did you most enjoy?
The flashback scenes were fascinating but Evie's first encounter with the 'girls' stands out in particular.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Evie and her reflections on her father were particularly poignant.Any additional comments?
A surprisingly subtle meditation on womanhood, the disappointment of youth and guilt, with an almost incidental but seductive cult story triggering it all.Dreamy with quiet, sad dread
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