Local Girls
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4.0 • 39 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic is at her haunting, thought-provoking best with these interconnected stories about a Long Island family.
Alice Hoffman casts her spell over a neighborhood filled with dreamers and dreams as she evokes the world of the Samuelsons, a family torn apart by tragedy and bound together by devotion. As Gretel grows up, she is witness to the breakup of her parents' marriage, the ups and downs of her cousin Margot's search for love, the deterioration of a brother who passes up Harvard for a job at the Food Star, and emotional explosions that shatter the suburban quiet...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hoffman's chosen form of a novelistic group of short stories--all of which share the same family characters--lends itself nicely to the abridged audio format, in which the fragmentation seems a willful form of stylized narration. The audio's producers have augmented this effect: two narrators, the airy Merlington and the pragmatic Vigesaa, play off against each other in tone as they trade stories. In the opener, Gretel Samuelson tells of her family's troubles in confidential, diarylike schoolgirl terms. In later offerings, omniscient descriptions are given of mother Franny's fight against cancer and brother Jason's disintegration as a heroin addict. Though dysfunctional family fiction seems standard fare these days, Hoffman's highly individual knack for creating a sense of specific atmosphere is uncanny and unique, a quality that translates especially well in spoken form. Based on the 1999 Putnam hardcover.
Customer Reviews
Local Girls
Lovely coming of age story about friendship and the bonds of mother and sisterhood. This book made me cry and smile. Left me nostalgic for my own past. Really moving, beautifully written story which rings true to life and above all hope. Should be on the public middle and high school reading lists. Thanks again for another beauty from Alice Hoffman!