The Girls (2016)

A fictious version of the Manson murders, this story centers on a typical "good" girl, albeit from a broken home, who is seduced into a Manson-like cult in the 1960's and how she lives and copes in modern times after surviving the murders and their aftermath. (Spoiler - Cline doesn't actual make her part of the actual killers).

It was a very interesting examination into how easy it is for an innocent to be caught up in things she never intended. My only "problem" with it was that it was so close to the Manson story, but not quite that the differences were distracting and took me out of the story. Otherwise, it was a pretty good and worthwhile read.

7/10

S: 6/27/17 - 7/9/17 (14 Days) ( )

Lets be clear, there is a lot to like about this book and Ms Cline is clearly a talent and one to watch in the future. But given the enormous hype and hyperbole around her debut work, and, one might as well be frank, the massive advance she received in an age when people allegedly don't read, its seems reasonable to subject this to a slightly harsher critique then one normally would for a first novel.

As I say, its good. Ms Cline is particularly good at creating atmosphere, and the long hazy summer of 1969 she creates, and how it seems to last an aeon for an adolescent 14 year old girl not well served by any of the adults in her life, is very evocative. So far so good. But there are 4 fairly major problems with the book in my opinion

1) Its overwritten. Ms Cline will never use one adjective if five seem more poetic. That's fine, but you need to pick your moments. Its not necessary for every moment of every day to be lush with imagery. In the end it destroys the illusion. But this will come with experience and a more ruthless editor; Ms Cline has not been well served by her current one. More importantly
2) Ms Cline doesn't seem sure what book she is writing. Is she writing a book about the trials and tribulations of adolescence? If so, then "The Girls" is partially successful, but ultimately Evie, the protagonist, isn't a very convincing adolescent. She certainly has feelings - indeed she clearly has "issues" 40 years before that term was ever coined - but she is a fully formed adult, occasionally naive but adolescence is a mixture of flashes of knowing cynical adulthood, and the remains of childhood. There is nothing childlike about Evie. And if there is a mention of her laughing at any point in the book, then I missed it
3) And if this is a book about adolescence then why set it in a very specific time, place and historical context? The essentials of Evie's narrative would work equally well at any time and place. Her attraction to and idolisation of older, rebellious, seemingly powerful girls in charge of there own destiny, would be equally effective set in any gang, any tribe, even any cult. It could be a punk or hip hop story as much as a hippie one. So there must be a specific intent to write about the Manson Family
4) In which case, write about it, rather than half write about it. The Tate LoBianca murders are at the edge of our modern consciousness if you take the view, which I do, that the late 1960s are the starting point for the modern age. So why not write about the Manson Family, especially when most, if not all, of the characters Edie interacts can clearly be identified with real people, some of whom are still alive, if incarcerated. But instead we get half measures. Edie is obsessed with Suzanne, but we never get under Suzanne's skin and understand what motivates her. We only see her through Edie's lovestruck eyes, which is entirely fine, if she wasn't based on a real person who we would like to understand more

So there are some problems; but as I said, there is much to admire too. Ms Cline writes well about girls - because all the relationships in this book are about girls. Evie and her mother. Evie and her "normal" friend Connie. The older Evie and the youthful Sasha. And of course Evie and the "Manson girls". One thing Evie is right about is that noone was ever much interested in the Manson men; it was the girls that were fascinating. This book enhances that fascination, but by half measures. Its good, but it could have been so much better ( )

Chilling and well-wound. ( )

Fourteen year old Evie is in a period of change during the long, hot summer of 1969 in California. Her parents are divorced, her mother feckless and moving from one boyfriend to another, living off inherited money from her famous mother. Her father is living with a younger woman and Evie feels she has outgrown her childhood friend. Then one day Evie sees a strange hippy girl dumpster diving and she becomes hypnotised by Suzanne, a member of a commune. Slowly Evie is drawn into the world of Russell, the charismatic leader, the girls who surround him. As the summer slips by in a haze of drugs and sex, Evie's life is changed forever.

Whilst this book is loosely based on the story of the Manson family, it is pure fiction and outstanding fiction at that. Evie is a naive character on the verge of adulthood and ripe for exploitation, yet her actions and thoughts are completely believable. Cline has conjured up the lazy, slow feeling of a hot summer and her descriptions of drug-taking, sex and life at the ranch are blurred in a hazy manner that suits the setting. The contrast with the present day and seeing how Evie's life has been affected throws it all into perspective. My only slight criticism is that the end of the summer was a little obvious but honestly that didn't detract from a wonderful book. ( )

On a warm August night in 1969, the news of a series of murders in California flashed on my small television screen. At first the news reported that perhaps it was a hate crime involving the Black Panther but that was Charles Manson's idea.

This fictional account of the Manson family told by a former cult member who escaped the trance of another psychopath who ordered the murder of a famous musician similar to Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. The girls of Russell's Ranch are also social outcasts who are easily manipulated into committing murder and being sexual objects. The Age of Aquarius created a runway society who enabled men to control poor self loathing woman for their own purposes. ( )