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Clouds Among the Stars: Victoria Clayton. Harper Collins 2004

The opening of this book, and it’s a cracker, is, ‘The day my father was arrested for murder started promisingly.’

I thought I knew what to expect from Clayton, having read a few of her books before: ( Read more... )

The Quiet Girl
Original title: An Cailín Ciúin (2022) Rated: 12A
Written by: Claire Keegan, Colm Bairéad
Directed by: Colm Bairéad
Starring: Catherine Clinch, Andrew Bennett, Carrie Crowley

This is a rich, character-driven film that was quite recently up for a Best Foreign Language Oscar, as it’s mainly in Irish Gaelic, ( Read more... )

Prep: Curtis Sittenfeld. Black Swan, 2010.

I can’t pinpoint why I didn’t read this sooner. I’ve read ‘An American Wife’ and ‘Sisterland’ by Sittenfeld and was aware of this novel. Literature about American boarding schools has always fascinated me, mainly as a subset of the girls own genre because of the different context. You’d have thought I’d rush to read a novel in this setting by an author I admired, but I’ve seen more than one copy in a charity shop and passed it.

Well, a time came when I picked a copy up. ( Read more... )

Tam Lin: Pamela Dean, Firebird, 2006.

I had known of this book for a while – I read more fantasy novels than I discuss here – and leaped at the opportunity to get this reprint, ( Read more... )

I recommend both, although they’re very different – the main character of one is a five year old girl, and the other film strongly features a quartette of young women.

The Beasts of the Southern Wild (12A) is going to get award attention. If you can, try to see it. It’s a fable about climate change and how it affects one family, their bayou and the way of life that’s grown up about it. It is both arty (comparisons have been made to Terrence Malick’s work, although it’s not quite up there for me) and folk art, if that’s the right phrase. The lynch-pin is the mesmerising Hushpuppy, the little girl at the heart of it all. In some ways, this reminded me of Ponyo (similarly aged heroine, the threat of rising waters, the power and wonder of nature) although this is a much fiercer film than the Japanese one. There are some astounding scenes towards the end.

The Sapphires (PG) is F. U. N. Three Aboriginal sisters and a cousin in the sixties join with a hapless but passionate about soul Irishman (Chris O’Dowd, very funny) to create the titular girl group and perform for mainly African American soldiers in Vietnam. There’s a down-to-earth humour about it, you can’t help root for the girls to get over their rivalries and issues, for a few of them to find love and for all of them to stay safe. Although the tone is mainly light-hearted, it doesn’t shy away from racism and its heartbreaking effects. The audience that I saw it with laughed, cried and sung along with the numbers. Sometimes, it was let down by budgetary constraints, but you were always rooting for the sparky Sappires.

Hopefully, my next post will be a tale of folly, great drama and a faulty memory...

A Popular Schoolgirl: Angela Brazil

I had an ‘oh, Angela’ moment when ( Read more... )

Sara Gay Model Girl in New York: Janey Scott

That's New York, 1961 - fit for girls. ( Read more... )

Dance with me by Victoria Clayton

Recommended. ( Read more... )

I look forward to reading more by Clayton (I think another book of hers may have been recommended by callmemadam.)

Finally I reread Three go to Switzerland: Mabel Esther Allan

It can’t have made much impact on me before, because I didn’t remember anything as I read it. ( Read more... )