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A review by cheekylaydee
The Burning Girl by Claire Messud
4.0
There are friendships, especially as you're growing up, that you assume will last forever. That person has been an intrinsic part of your life for so long that you know them as well as you know yourself, maybe even better.
Such is the friendship between Julia and Cassie. Long summer days are spent in each other's company, creating their own private hideouts, every nuance and mannerism known to the other person, moods being read without the need for words.
However when the girls hit adolescence and Julia spends her summer away at camp, by the time the new year starts at school Cassie seems to have distanced herself from her oldest friend. With a new set of friends and different interests, the two girls are now virtual strangers with an irrevocably entwined past. The change seems to be so gradual and so subtle that it takes Julia a good while to realise that things just aren't the same anymore. She's beginning to realise that Cassie has developed into someone she no longer knows, with issues that run so deep she cannot seem to confide in her oldest friend, even as Julia practically cries out wanting to help her.
By the time people realise how much Cassie's life has spun out of control Julia is the only one that can help her, everybody else feeding off the gossip of her life like vultures feeding off of prey.
This novel is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Life getting in the way of seemingly the most solid of friendships creates a void for those involved, becoming familiar strangers can be both poignant and painful.
I didn't just gobble this up I virtually swallowed it whole! An absorbing read that will keep pages turning until they run out, 4 stars.
Such is the friendship between Julia and Cassie. Long summer days are spent in each other's company, creating their own private hideouts, every nuance and mannerism known to the other person, moods being read without the need for words.
However when the girls hit adolescence and Julia spends her summer away at camp, by the time the new year starts at school Cassie seems to have distanced herself from her oldest friend. With a new set of friends and different interests, the two girls are now virtual strangers with an irrevocably entwined past. The change seems to be so gradual and so subtle that it takes Julia a good while to realise that things just aren't the same anymore. She's beginning to realise that Cassie has developed into someone she no longer knows, with issues that run so deep she cannot seem to confide in her oldest friend, even as Julia practically cries out wanting to help her.
By the time people realise how much Cassie's life has spun out of control Julia is the only one that can help her, everybody else feeding off the gossip of her life like vultures feeding off of prey.
This novel is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Life getting in the way of seemingly the most solid of friendships creates a void for those involved, becoming familiar strangers can be both poignant and painful.
I didn't just gobble this up I virtually swallowed it whole! An absorbing read that will keep pages turning until they run out, 4 stars.