New Books! The Girls by Emma Cline

There’s been such a buzz around Emma Cline’s first novel The Girls, that when I started to read it I wondered if it would be disappointing. It’s worth all the fanfare. Set in the late 1960’s, fourteen-year-old Evie is bored with her life and becomes fascinated by Suzanne who is a member of a Manson Family type cult. The story flips between Evie as an adult and teenage Evie and I was struck by Cline’s ability to tap into exactly what it means to be a girl. The self conciousness, the willingness to please, the power that a crush can have over you. It’s all here and in unflinching detail. It was uncomfortable to remember those times through Evie and other characters.

In some ways I wondered if it should have been called The Girl because Suzanne casts such a long shadow. The Girls is very dark and not an easy summer time read but it is an exceptionally well written book. I can’t wait to see what Emma Cline writes next.

Emma Cline wrote this book in a tiny writers shed. You can check it out here

The Girls is published in the UK on June 16th.

Disclaimer – I received a digital galley of The Girls in return for an honest review.