The Girls by Emma Cline

The Girls is another one of the first books I ever received from Book of the Month. I am sure at the time I selected it because of the similarities in the plot to the Tate-LaBianca murders committed by Charles Manson and the Family. I had started reading it once; however, I could not get into it then and returned it to the shelf. But I have finally gotten around to reading it.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

It is the summer of 1969 and fourteen-year-old Evie Boyd is feeling adrift. Her parents have recently divorced; her dad has moved in with his young girlfriend and her mom is trying to be young and adventurous while dating a man with a wife. When Evie happens upon a group of girls at the beach, she has no clue where her life is headed. The girl Evie finds herself most attracted is Suzanne, who introduces Evie to Russell, a leader of a group of people living out on a ranch. While Evie finds Russell and his ideas and music interesting, she is enamored with Suzanne and would do absolutely anything she asks. Told from the point of view of the adult Evie looking back on how she almost let one person ruin her life, she is now able to see how and why she fell so quickly in such a violent culture.

The similarities to the Manson murders are extremely obvious. I believe that Evie Boyd is loosely based off of Dianne Lake, who wrote the book Member of the Family about her time in with Manson. Some of Dianne and Evie's experiences seem to mirror each other. The biggest one being that they were both fourteen. The settings are also very similar. Both the Manson Family and Russell's group of followers lived on a ranch and then later moved to the desert. It was also mentioned by one of the characters in The Girls that they had travelled through different parts of California before settling in at the ranch, something that the Manson Family did as well. In the book, Russell has a close relationship with Mitch Lewis, who is the member of a band and says that he will help Russell get a record deal. Charles Manson had a close relationship with Dennis Wilson from the Beach Boys. These were just a few of the similarities; however, there were many, many more.

(Source: Giphy)

I feel that these similarities cheapened the book. If you are going to write a story so closely to the actual events, then write a non-fiction; if you are going to loosely base it off of the events, make enough of the events your own. I found myself just trying to push through the book because of this. I have read enough books on Manson; I did not want to read a knock off of what happened during the Tate-LaBianca murders.

When the novel is in present day, Evie is currently living in a guest house of a friend when the son of the friend, Julian, arrives late one night. In tow is his girlfriend, Sasha, who is a few years younger than Julian, and obviously enamored with him. The parallels between the Sasha and young Evie are obvious, and it is clear that Evie is supposed to impart some wisdom on Sasha and not let this cycle repeat. Evie does not do any of this. I found this more annoying than the Manson comparisons. If I can help someone avoid the horrors of my past, then I would. Evie's one attempt at helping the Sasha had a backwards effect.

"'But Sasha and I know each other, don't we?' Zav smiled at her. 'I like Sasha.'

Sasha held a basic smile on her face, her fingers tidying a pile of torn label.

'She doesn't like her tits,' Julian said, pulsing the back of her neck, 'but I tell her they're nice.'

'Sasha!' Zav affected upset. 'You have great tits.'

I flushed, hurrying to finish the dishes....

Tickling her shoulder. 'Let Zav see.'

Sasha's face reddened.

'Do it babe,' Julian said, a harshness in his voice making me glance over. I caught Sasha's eye-I told myself the look in her face was pleading.

'Come on, you guys,' I said.

The boys turned with amused surprise. Though I think they were tracking where I was all along. That my presence was part of the game.

'What?' Julian said, his face snapping into innocence.

'Just cool it,' I told him.

'Oh, it's fine,' Sasha said. Laughing a littler, her eyes on Julian.

'What exactly are were doing?' Julian said. 'What exactly should we 'cool'?'

He and Have snorted-how quickly all the old feelings came back, the humiliating interior fumble. I crossed my arms, looking to Sasha. 'You're bothering her....'

'So show us,' Zav said, turning back to Sasha. I was already invisible again. 'Show us the famous tits.'

'You don't have to,' I said to her.

Sasha flicked her eyes in my direction. 'It isn't a big deal or anything,' she said, her tone dripping with cool, obvious disdain....

She puller her shirt down, her face flushed but mostly dreamy. The impatient, professional tug she gave when the neckline caught on her bra. Then both pale breasts were exposed, her skin marked by the line of her bra. Zav exclaimed approvingly. Reaching to thumb a rosy nipple while Julian looked on.

I had long outlived whatever usefulness I had here." (pp. 262-264)

(Source: Giphy)

Evie is older than all three of these people and is the obvious adult in the situation. She had the opportunity to be the adult, but just like young Evie, she wanted to "be cool," and let the situation happen, despite the fact that both she and Sasha were uncomfortable with it and Julian and Zav were drunk. She let Sasha be sexually harassed and assaulted, even though she had been forced through similar things. Characters are supposed to grow, just like people. Evie's character never did and I found that beyond frustrating. 

This was Cline's debut novel. I am not sure if that had anything to do with it. Her other books look to be mostly short stories, although none of them pique my interest enough to read. 

(Source: Giphy)

Rating: 2/10

Author: Emma Cline

Genres: Historical Fiction

Dates Read: October 11-15, 2018