The Girls by Emma Cline

This book blew me away. For a first novel, the writing is nothing short of amazing. Emma Cline is a rare talent, and I look forward to reading many more of her books.

Like Evie, the main character in this book, I was 14 years old in 1969 and remember the Manson murders well. This book is a fictionalized version of "the girls" who followed Manson and were drawn into his sphere. Evie is a pretty normal 14 year old, wanting attention from boys, hanging out at her friend Connie's house and flirting with her older brother, Peter. This was the era of hippies and flower children and free love, and this was San Francisco, pretty much the hub of hippie-ism at that time. Evie sees a group of girls dumpster-diving in a parking lot and becomes enthralled with Suzanne, an older girl who doesn't seem to have a care in  the world. After a spat with Connie, Evie happens to meet up with Suzanne and the other girls again when her bike breaks, and they give her a ride to their ranch, where she meets Russell (the Manson character in this book). Evie likes the commune lifestyle and starts spending more time at the ranch, while her mom thinks she is with Connie all the time. In the back of her mind, Evie knows something is not right, but in teenage rebellion fashion, she stays with the group at the ranch and is somewhat in love with Suzanne, who has become her idol. Her story is told in alternating times from the present to 1969. Even though you know where the story is going, you have to keep turning the pages, going with Evie into that ever-darker spiral leading to unspeakable horror.

This book is fast-paced and beautifully written, and it sucks you into Evie's journey so completely that you forget everything else going on around you until you finally reach the last page. Emma Cline captures the era and the teen culture of the late 1960s so well that I would swear she was my age. Her writing is a joy to read, so descriptive that you can imagine every detail in your mind. There are parts that are disturbing, but Cline goes lightly on the graphic violence. Some is necessary for the story though. This is a five-star book that I would recommend to anyone who remembers the Manson murders or is interested in learning about them from an insider's point of view.

Portrait of a Girl by Dorthe Binkert

I got this book as a Kindle First selection. It seemed like it would be interesting in the description. I wasn't too enthused when I started reading it, but I kept hoping it would redeem itself. First off, there were glaring errors, such as the use of modern slang ("Whatever") when this is supposedly taking place in the 1890s. There were too many minor characters and subplots that didn't add to the story. The author "telling" rather than "showing" -- repeatedly saying thing like "He felt sad" or "James gave his friend an amused look." What does an "amused look" look like? How about "James cocked an eyebrow and grimaced at his friend"? Give us a visual. The book is written in omniscient third person, so the author knows what's inside everyone's head, which I don't really care for. Maybe something was lost in translation, but the writing style is drab and boring, and nothing really happened in the book that was compelling. It just seemed to drag on forever. I held on until the end, but it was a letdown too.

Life and Other Near-Death Experiences by Camille Pagan

I chose this book as a Kindle First selection, and it took me a while to get to it, but I started reading it on my vacation last week and finished it in a couple days. I literally could not put it down. Based on the description, I was afraid it might be dark and sad, but that was definitely not the case! It is very well written, and interjected with just the right amounts of angst, humor, and despair - just like real life. In fact, the main character Libby, and those around her, are so believable that this could have been a memoir rather than a novel. We come into Libby's life in her mid-30s, when she is diagnosed with a rare and terrible form of cancer. Having lost her mother to cancer when she was just 10 years old, she reacts by running out of the doctor's office and vowing to not receive treatment. Arriving at home in tears, her beloved husband misunderstands her distress and drops another bomb on her, throwing her right over the edge. Suddenly "kittens and rainbows" Libby is Demon Libby. She throws her husband out, puts their condo up for sale, quits her job, and flies to Puerto Rico for a month without even telling her twin brother or her father. No spoilers here, but Libby meets some people there who change her life.

Libby is very real, and her struggles are ones that any one of us might have to go through at some point or another. We never know how we will react to bad news until it happens. Libby's journey is compelling and at times hilarious. I love Camille Pagan's writing style, and look forward to more from her. I would recommend this book to anyone.