The Girls by Emma Cline
Published: June 14, 2016
Publisher: Random House
Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
The Girls follows Evie, a middle aged woman slouching through life, as she recounts her summer with a Manson family like group during the summer of '69.
I just could not connect with any of the characters in the story. If it had been Suzanne or Roos' POV I think I would have found it more interesting. Instead I had to follow Evie, a fourteen year old girl of privilege. I get being a lonely teen is rough, dealing with divorced parents is rough, dealing with trying to navigate your sexuality is rough. My problem was Evie's struggles didn't interest me. She comes from a well off family and her parents are selfish people. She likes girls more than boys but it never comes up aside from her internal struggles. Compare that to the little bits we get about Suzanne or Roos. One had to work as a stripper, maybe, the other was an abused wife that left her husband. Let's not even think about all the people out there who, because of their sexuality, faced homelessness after being disowned by their family and violence.
Cline also was constantly pointing out how dangerous men are. How they look lustfully at young girls and take advantage of them. How women are all wrapped up in pleasing men to the point of denying themselves their own identities. Okay, but again I'm following Evie. Yes, some guys perv on her but compared to what Suzanne or Roos had been through? I just had a hard time caring.
Maybe if
I had been alive during the time period I would connect more with Evie. It isn't a badly written book. The prose gets a
little purple here and there but nothing so egregious that I'd dock
points. Someone that finds the time period or the whole cult angle interesting might love this book. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me.