[ Book] í The Girls From the Five Great Valleys PDF by Elizabeth Savage Î eBook or Kindle ePUB free
Not sharing any common history except that they hail from the same area Perhaps such form of friendships are common in small towns where groupings are formed on basis of locality and mutual amicability rather than tangible similarities The camaraderie of these girls weaves in and out as they eventually grow apart Taking on adult responsibilities whilst espousing innocence which is characteristic of academic girls is no mean feat and each girl desires to attain her goal in her own special way But there is something about ironing that doesn t use the whole of you enough You stand still while your hand moves back and forth.
This book was a curiosity written in the 70s about friendship between 5 girls in small town Montana during the Great Depression Some dated language important to remember history and the last page was a gobsmacker that made me rethink the entire book 1612183204 I ve given this a two star review on Goodreads only because I can t do halves Really this is a two and a half starred review ONLY because the last few chapters allowed it to be Otherwise BLAH BLAH. This edition of The Girls From The Five Great Valleys is one in a series of books offered by Book Lust Rediscoveries which is devoted to reprinting novels originally published from 1960 2000 Nancy Pearl NPR commentator and Book Lust author selected each book and each includes an introduction discussion questions for book groups and a list of further recommended reading I was given an ARC courtesy of Goodreads Originally published in 1977 78 The Girls From The Five Great Valleys setting takes place in 1930 s Missoula Montana Obviously the story revolves around five girls who are friends on the cusp of womanhood and led by the well meaning Hillary Hunter Hillary has placed herself in charge of making sure each girl abides by a strict set of Missoula moral codes After all it is important that one associate with the proper people attend the proper parties dress a certain way IF one is to get into the right sorority and clubs so one may marry the proper person build the perfect home in the just right Baby Bear neighborhood Honestly this book described what life may have been like or was like back in the day in a small town BUT it could ve been talking about ANYWHERE Small Town USA and still there was nothing interesting happening in this novel until those last chapters I mentioned earlier I wanted to yank my hair out It was rather boring and if there s one thing I cannot stand it s an uppity cliche group of girls thinking themselves better than everyone else and looking down their snooty noses defining what is right and acceptable in Small Town USA Again that s about the sum of it One girl went on a date with the wrong boy accepted a ride home with a boy that was supposed to be the right guy but just ended up being wrong too and another girl has to take care of her lazy mean father and brother The girls are supposed to be the greatest of friends but only manage to gripe and whine on the two occasions the author puts them all together The most interesting plotline revolves around Amelia Lacey and her beautiful flawed mother Anne I don t know This story was told in the most boring way imaginable Half the time the narrator would speak of one thing and suddenly hop to something even less important Not to mention there was a lot of insignificant verses from poems and song that had me thinking WHAT Then it just kind of endedright when I thought it began Can I just say that I felt like I had read a book NOT about girls from five great anything but about lots of boring lives in Missoula Montana and a sort of handbook from the 1930 s on how to be a snob In Missoula Montana I never forged any type of relationship with the characters But I do know a lot about nothing now I guess 1612183204 Take five girls anywhere at any time Three will be all right and one will make it One won t There they go. Highly reminiscent of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Elizabeth Savage s The Girls from the Five Great Valleys is a coming of age book of five girls set in Montana in 1930s We witness the girls growing up enveloped by norms and s of their surroundings Out of the main five girls Hilary Doll and Amelia get most attention from the author whereas characters of Kathy and Janet are used to merely fill lacunae in the plot This bias on part of the author leads to a digression of the title of the book and as a reader I found it futile in terms of deriving any moral from the story. The digressions are not just on part of the five main characters than half of the book concentrates on the girls families teachers and neighbours too The professor was not well liked in town because he had money than was suitable for one who was when you got right down to it just a teacher For all their black gowns and their funny hats that s all they are just teachers and only bearable because they have less money than most the sorrows of their parents their careers and intricate lives and so on Whilst much of this is reflective of shaping up their personalities I felt that having used parents as secondary characters as a backdrop to the story would have been far effective Having given them centre stage somehow dilutes the focus. He glanced at Myra who was everything a woman ought to be She was generous but frugal so that she could be generous without a bad conscience He had no idea whether she was brave or not but it didn t much matter because if he could fix it she d never have anything to be brave about Best she was true blue. Because Myra was the best woman in the world but without sense enough to pound sand into a rat holeThe oddity of this book no concrete plot or moral principles imbued embraces the dynamics of relationships in Missoula Montana Our five girls are not shown to be steadfast friends and you get to thinking about some things you d just as soon not think aboutHilary assumes the role of a leader of the group the Mother Hen who takes the girls into her circle forging a friendship on her own terms She assesses qualities of each individual before taking them in and acts as a guide in their social pursuits Doll has low expectation from life in general and chooses to settle for a husband at a very early age Clearly her attentions are directed towards boys and despite being the closest to Hilary she is first to be left out of the group Amelia is daughter of a widow Anne Lacey whose story permeates this book the most Despite being well off tragedy upon tragedy strikes the Lacey family and each tragedy leaves shockwaves through their town Janet and Kathy are least narrated on with the former being unintelligent and latter having high academic aspirations Worst of all she said to know all was to forgive all and she went around forgiving people which is insulting It presumes that the forgiver is in a position to forgive But Kathy said that was the way she had been reared Reared mind you All the rest of them were raised. One of the most interesting aspects of this story is use of landscape and setting as a formidable character that comes alive with each beautiful description There is strong imagery of a small town nestled between mountains and valleys The Garden City where the Five Great Valleys meet the Mission the Missoula the Blackfoot the Hellgate and the Bitterroot bustling with life in streets lined with houses each street and corner demarcating social status of its residents Some houses are well taken care of others are in dire need of renovations Hilary s street is characterised by rows of flowers planted by its residents Doll evaluates her beaus in terms of condition of their houses Amelie s house is grand yet has fallen into disrepair They stopped for a moment on the bridge where the February water swirled below it plaited and braided and sucked at the banks and vomited bad things One bad thing was a small animal Its backbone showed where whatever was meant to gnaw on it had gnawed itOverall The Girls from the Five Great Valleys is an ideal read for a lazy afternoon Despite the fluid writing it isn t evocative As a reader I felt neither saddened by the sufferings of the characters nor empathised with their status The town felt complete within itself and required no external sympathies which might have been enlightening to some extent 1612183204 It was a fun read because I live just outside Missoula and the story is set in Missoula in 1934 so I could relate to places and how they have changed But the story itself was depressing and disturbing in how vapid the girls were and how limited their opportunities or how limited they believed them to be and therefore they were 1612183204 I was in love with this book from the get go and the last sentence guarantees I ll reread it It s a coming of age novel for 5 girls during the Depression in Missoula Montana That s a place I know nothing about and which Savage describes beautifully making place a character That s another thing I love about the book Happy reading 1612183204
| The Girls From the Five Great Valleys By Elizabeth Savage |
| 1612183204 |
| 9781612183206 |
| English |
| 224 |
| Paperback |