The Girls by Emma Cline

The Girls by Emma Cline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Girls by Emma Cline; not a bad debut novel. The author certainly knows how to use language to convey a mood, to express emotion, to set a tone. Maybe that's all she did here. There isn't much of a story. Having grown up in the 60's, I knew how this story ends. There is not meant to be a lot of tension, more a steady build to something the reader already knows is going to happen. Maybe it's just how people arrive at a place and do horrific things. Cline does manage to capture the "hippie" culture pretty well, and imagines the cult atmosphere that ensconced Manson's followers. I found that part fascinating. Evie as a character gave a voice to the ennui of a generation, and in a circuitous way shows the reader the danger of that teenage boredom in a fascinating time in American history. I don't think the reader is meant to love the story, but to feel the writing. At least that's what I did.

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