The Boston Girl
by Anita Diamant
The Boston Girl is a delightful story that none of us were expecting to find so
enjoyable. The characters of this novel were richly brought to life through dialogue
and action. Diamant
pulls you into Addie's life so effortlessly that you do not want to leave.
Addie is a smart, plucky, and strong-willed girl who sees the changing role of
women first-hand. As the first American born child in her family Addie goes to
school, befriends girls from other backgrounds, and finds lifelong friends at
the Settlement House’s Saturday Club.
The Boston Girl reads like a biography because of the historical elements
throughout. Herman Levine is Addie’s brother-in-law and he helps the whole family through the depression and beyond. Levine is also a great character who helps time and again but does not get recognition from his in-laws for all he does. Levine makes shirts for World War I, two of Addie’s nephews die
from the Spanish Influenza, Addie dates a World War II vet, and her husband
helps pass Child Labor laws. The historical elements of this novel add so much
to the story and we are all enthralled to read about how these big events
shaped the lives of our characters.
The
group is hurt by Addie’s mother, Memah,
because she treats Addie poorly throughout the novel. Some members think Memah was
mentally ill. Others wonder if Memah does not like Addie because she is born in
America and is flourishing in life, while two of Memah's children die trying to get
to the U.S. and Memah blames America for their deaths. Either way Addie
has a hard time with her mother. Memah thinks Addie is lazy, stupid, and needs
to work harder for her place in the family. Relations between them do not get
better with time or after Celia’s death. Celia is such a fragile girl who could
not deal with the realities of life and was not prepared to be a wife and
mother to two boys. The stress and isolation drove Celia to her death. We wish we knew more about Celia and even Betty who is always there but somewhat of a mystery. But Diamant perfectly shows how an older sister is not always well known, but is there for support.
Our
discussion of this novel is lively, amusing, and we are all happy with this selection.
