Coree B. (Coreegirl) reviewed on + 216 more book reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this autobiographical account of McCarthy's intellectual and emotional development, we meet her as a lonely, frightened 13-year-old and leave her as a sophisticated Vassar graduate, foolishly married at age 21 to a man she doesn't love. This reminiscence will appeal to admirers of her Memories of a Catholic Girlhood. Such universal experiences as an adolescent girl's painful awakening to sex, her first love affair, her discovery of books and ideas involve the reader because of the author's near-photographic memory, her relentless candor and graceful style. Brought up by grandparents, McCarthy, "a bright wild girl from Seattle," at 17 was put off by Vassar's "cleverness," but she notes that the school left its stamp on her, making her "brittle, smart and a little empty."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the prose was elegant and interesting and the subject matter was real.
In this autobiographical account of McCarthy's intellectual and emotional development, we meet her as a lonely, frightened 13-year-old and leave her as a sophisticated Vassar graduate, foolishly married at age 21 to a man she doesn't love. This reminiscence will appeal to admirers of her Memories of a Catholic Girlhood. Such universal experiences as an adolescent girl's painful awakening to sex, her first love affair, her discovery of books and ideas involve the reader because of the author's near-photographic memory, her relentless candor and graceful style. Brought up by grandparents, McCarthy, "a bright wild girl from Seattle," at 17 was put off by Vassar's "cleverness," but she notes that the school left its stamp on her, making her "brittle, smart and a little empty."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the prose was elegant and interesting and the subject matter was real.
