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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
3.5 Stars
Set in New York City around 1910, The Girls with No Names gives us a fictional account that loosely borders on the infamous "House of Mercy," an institution to which "problem" girls and women were committed by their families. Around the time of the novel, many young women in the institution had been accused of prostitution and ordered to the facility by the Bureau of Social Hygiene. Prostitution was rather loosely defined, it seems.
The novel follows the lives of four women- sisters Effie and Luella, their mother Jeanne, and Mabel, a young woman Effie meets in the House of Mercy when she gets herself committed there in an ill-fated attempt to find her missing sister. Mabel's story is a particularly harrowing one (a post-partum issue there goes underexplained). Against this backdrop of silencing women, we also have a cameo appearance by real-life women's rights figure Inez Milholland, a suffragist and labor lawyer.
While a novel exploring an unquestionably important issue in the early women's rights era, I was less satisfied with the novel's pacing, its predictability, and the missed opportunity to explore some of the issues facing these "fallen girls" in greater depth. That said, it's still a good introduction to the struggles of women in this period in American History, in terms of historical fiction.
I received a Digital Review Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Set in New York City around 1910, The Girls with No Names gives us a fictional account that loosely borders on the infamous "House of Mercy," an institution to which "problem" girls and women were committed by their families. Around the time of the novel, many young women in the institution had been accused of prostitution and ordered to the facility by the Bureau of Social Hygiene. Prostitution was rather loosely defined, it seems.
The novel follows the lives of four women- sisters Effie and Luella, their mother Jeanne, and Mabel, a young woman Effie meets in the House of Mercy when she gets herself committed there in an ill-fated attempt to find her missing sister. Mabel's story is a particularly harrowing one (a post-partum issue there goes underexplained). Against this backdrop of silencing women, we also have a cameo appearance by real-life women's rights figure Inez Milholland, a suffragist and labor lawyer.
While a novel exploring an unquestionably important issue in the early women's rights era, I was less satisfied with the novel's pacing, its predictability, and the missed opportunity to explore some of the issues facing these "fallen girls" in greater depth. That said, it's still a good introduction to the struggles of women in this period in American History, in terms of historical fiction.
I received a Digital Review Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Just a great read. A story that is heartbreaking and hard to read, but at the same time sheds light on the injustices females have had to endure throughout the course of history.
Should be mandatory reading in high school.
Should be mandatory reading in high school.
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Informative historical fiction; however, I think the author tried to cover too many socioeconomic classes to create a truly cohesive narrative. It resulted in a contrived plot. I did find the book intriguing but mostly as an introduction to a yet another dark story about the treatment of women in America.
Solid historical fiction. Interesting and informative. This is set in 1910s NY during the time of suffragettes and turn of the century changes in morals and conventions. It was a time when some women experienced more freedoms while others clung to tradition and convention. This is the backdrop for the story but the story has little to do with this other than each of the characters is trapped within the confines of their world which are conservative and conventional. Effie and Louella are sisters from a wealthy family. They’ve never known hardship, truly. Louella is headstrong and obstinate, chafing against the expectations and conventions of the firstborn. Effie is sickly, born with a damaged heart whose death sentence she defies year after year. The girls are close. When Louella is sixteen she runs away with a couple of Gypsies she has befriended over the summer, leaving Effie behind but always intending to come back for her. Effie never knows the truth as her mother confiscated the letter Louella left behind. Effie’s imagination runs wild and she fears the worst has befallen her strong willed obstinate sister. She is sure her father has committed her to a home for fallen girls that is just down the street. She is desperate to find her sister and concocts a plan to get herself committed unbeknownst to her parents. What follows is the harrowing plight she faces as a wayward girl in service to uncharitable nuns and unruly girls. At this point, you have to swallow your disbelief for the story to go on. Effie’s admittance to the home is suspect based on the criteria the nun says is normally followed and more so when Effie herself is the one saying simply that she deserves to be there. This had to have been odd. Most girls were probably biting, kicking, scratching to avoid being left there let alone calmly asserting that she should be. Her crime is no specific other than she flirted with a boy brazenly. Secondly, her manner of speaking, her level of education, and her dress should have raised some eyebrows. Effie did dress down to play the part but still had on her expensive shoes. Third, she never makes anything more than a half hearted effort to explain her mistaken caper to the nuns. And never provides any details that might have corroborated the truth of her story. She never gives them her real name, although her alias is a pretty thin cover given that she kept the name Effie. Fourth, the story was in the papers for many weeks, months. At least one of the nuns read the paper weekly and yet no one connected the dots? Photo? Same first name? Fifth, Sidney and Tray look for Effie and go to the home asking for Effie Tilden. Again, she’s using a different last name but no one says, we have an Effie but not that Effie. Instead they tell the boys there no one by that name. So, if you can accept this premise, you can settle in and enjoy the writing. It’s very visual. Mable (weird spelling in the ebook), aka Signe, has the most poignant storyline and I enjoyed it the most.
Strong female characters all centered around a harsh and heartbreaking story. The US has some darkness in its history.
Overall, I really enjoyed the writing style, and the idea of the book is really cool! I appreciated the first third of the book and how it built up the backstory and brought so many characters to life, but I felt like the author did a poor job fleshing out the last 2/3 especially the part when Effie was actually in the girls home which is what I was most curious about. The rest of the book felt chaotic and rushed yet it still dragged out. While the beginning felt realistic and enticing, the last 2/3 felt like an exaggerated adventure story. I still enjoyed the writing style but was unimpressed by the book as a whole by the end.
Started off a little bit slow in my opinion, but once the story got going I was rivited.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A quick moving historical fiction set around 2 sisters. I liked all parts of the story and even found the side stories to really enrich the book. Not a ton of action, but I think that is generally expected.
There were parts of the story that I really liked, but it wasn't a great audio listen. I also thought the story was off balance with the older sister basically disappearing for the second half of the book.