“Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man…“
The Palace of Strange Girls
Sallie Day
Blackpool, England, 1959. The Singleton family is on holiday. For seven-year-old Beth, just out of the hospital, this means struggling to fill in her ‘I-Spy’ book and avoiding her mother Ruth’s eagle-eyed supervision. Her sixteen-year-old sister Helen, meanwhile, has befriended a waitress whose fun-loving ways hint at a life beyond Ruth’s strict rules.
But times are changing. As foreman of the local cotton mill, Ruth’s husband, Jack, is caught between unions and owners whose cost-cutting measures threaten an entire way of life. And his job isn’t the only thing at risk. When a letter arrives from Crete, a secret re-emerges from the rubble of Jack’s wartime past that could destroy his marriage.
As Helen is tempted outside the safe confines of her mother’s stern edicts with dramatic consequences, an unexpected encounter inspires Beth to forge her own path. Over the holiday week, all four Singletons must struggle to find their place in the shifting world of promenade amusements, illicit sex, and stilted afternoon teas in this touching and evocative novel.
I was raised that “If you can say something nice, then don’t say nothing at all”…in which case this review would be blank!
Unfortunately as a book reviewer sometimes you have to say what is not flattering. This is the situation I find myself in with the Palace of Strange Girls.
Simply put…. I don’t get it!
I read this book from cover to cover and struggled through each and every page. Perhaps because the book is set in 1959 in England and I was born in American approximately a decade (or so) later I could not relate to the scenarios and situations within the book. I struggled to find common ground, understanding or footing within the story line and characters. I would like to say that it is all because of my lack of knowledge of that time frame and era but I would not be telling the truth.
The Palace of Strange Girls is “strange”. I did not find the characters to be like able or enjoyable. I did not find myself sympathetic to the controlling mother, the impulsive father with an Eeyore complex, the teenage daughter who doesn’t recognize a promiscuous friend when she sees one or the little girl, Beth, whose character narrates various parts of the story.
I found myself irritated with the mother, annoyed with the teenager, angered at the father and looking for a baby sitter for the child.
As I read the book….I continually had to refer back to previous chapters in order to connect various points. Many time it seemed as if I had missed something important because the story line jumped from one character or topic into another.
As I contemplate the characters I realize that so much of what is wrong with this family is to be blamed on the mother…yet her character, attitude and insecurities are never addressed fully. Personally, her character overshadowed and tinged all the other character in a very negative, all-consuming way.
The Palace of Strange Girls takes place in a one week time frame which is difficult to accept as it seems m-u-c-h longer. Even more difficult to accept is that I lost two days reading it.
Review posted at Amazon.com
Review Opportunity Provided by Hatchette Book Group
Opinions are strictly those of the blog owner
