I am haunted by this book --- by one of the last scenes in particular, and of course, I can not divulge more. In this story, Mamie Clarke is trying to understand her place in the world, basically as defined by the physiognomy of the female body. While a child living at the family home in Hawaii a devoted household employee touches her "down there." She reports it to her father and faces the consequences ever after. Just as she is about to finish college, Mamie flees to New York to visit Aunt Alice (Alysse to her New York friends). She decides to stay and find a job and then her sister Claire suddenly shows up, adding a whole other dimension to her life. (Oh, I recall some of these frustrations with my sister!)The writer really uses this story to explore the more self destructive side of feminism and self absorption of the eighties. Is it really all right if you are harming no one, but yourself? The book is about as unkind to the elite in New York City as Tom Wolf's BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES.
After snatching this up years ago at a yard sale I was excited to actually begin. It was one of those books I wanted to like. But after a start that had me thoroughly engaged I was pretty disappointed by the brutal imagery and seemingly apathetic protagonist. There were a few bright spots of thoughtfulness for me towards the end but they didn't seem transformative enough to make up for the rest.I couldn't see anyone I would recommend this book too and after the cover and some pages were damaged by my cat it ultimately made it's way to the trash (recycling).Wasn't worth the space on my shelf and in too rough a condition for donating.
I thought I’d really like this book about two sisters, Mamie & Claire, who grew up on the west side of Kauai and moved to New York City, but I didn’t really. It was ok, not great. I only finished it to finish it and there were some brutal scenes near the end that made me wish I’d just put it down. I thought I’d like seeing New York through their eyes, but it was a pretty bizarro New York. I did like the scenes describing Waimea town and Koke’e and the Waimea River and other things on Kauai, though. There just wasn’t enough of that to make me like the book.
—Rachelle Bowden
This was an extremely well-written book. It does everything a coming-of-age novel should, and it's beautiful. It tackles the difficult understandings of sex and transforms them into a journey though a young woman's mind as she comes to understand life and herself in it. Excellent.-----Edit: I re-read this again in March of 2009 for book club, and it absolutely held up to the test of time. It got better, in fact, with the second read. This book is so rich that I have no doubt re-reads for years will continue to improve it. This is one of my top-ten favorite books.
—Christina
