Emma Cline's The Girls
I'll start by saying: this book is way better than it needs to be. I mean, people are gonna read a fictionalized version of the Manson Murders no matter what--so that this book is a literary stunner is a major bonus. It's from the point of view of fourteen year old Evie--granddaughter of a major Hollywood celebrity*--who starts hanging out at the infamous ranch because she's intrigued by one of the older girls there. But it is kind of really about girlhood, about coming of age, about rape culture, about GIRLS, in a way that really resonated with me. Just a beautiful book. I'm not sure how I feel about the framing device--a much older Evie, at loose ends, encountering some beautiful young people at a friend's house--but it definitely works thematically. I think I just wished we'd seen more of adult Evie. Those are minor complaints, really--I think I'll still give this one an A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.
*I recently listened to the Manson episodes of the You Must Remember This podcast and I SWEAR I remember one of the people who hung out with them briefly was the grandchild of someone famous--does anyone know who I'm talking about? Am I making this up?
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