The Big Girls (Vintage Contemporaries) [Paperback]

Susanna Moore (Author)

Book Description

Series: Vintage Contemporaries | Publication Date: May 6, 2008

Helen is serving a life sentence at Sloatsburg women's prison for the murder of her children.

Dr. Louise Forrest, a recently divorced mother of an eight-year-old boy, is the new chief of psychiatry there.

Captain Ike Bradshaw is the corrections officer who wants her.

And Angie, an ambitious Hollywood starlet contacted by Helen, is intent on nothing but fame.

Drawing these four characters together in a story of shocking and disturbing revelations, The Big Girls is an electrifying novel about the anarchy of families, the sometimes destructive power of maternal instinct, and the cult of celebrity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In spare yet hypnotic prose, Moore (One Last Look) examines the bond between a young psychiatrist and a mentally ill patient in her devastating sixth novel, set at an upstate New York federal women's prison. Sloatsburg Correctional Institution, a former sanitarium on the west bank of the Hudson, is dangerous, understaffed, underfinanced and overwhelmingly grim. The place epitomizes what's wrong with our nation's prison system and stands as a warning about our growing mental health crisis. Moore deftly shifts perspective among her principal characters—Dr. Louise Forrest, Sloatsburg's psychiatry chief; Helen Nash, a suicidal inmate who's been convicted of killing her children; Capt. Henry "Ike" Bradshaw, a corrections officer who's in love with Louise; and Angie Mills, a Hollywood actress (and Louise's ex-husband's girlfriend), whom Helen believes is her long-lost sister—as the action hurtles to an oddly satisfying resolution. Reading this heartbreaker is like watching a train wreck while dialing for help on your cellphone. You can't turn away. 75,000 printing; author tour. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From The New Yorker

Set in a women’s prison on the Hudson River, Moore’s sixth novel chronicles the aftermath of a highly publicized murder and its impact on four intertwined lives. The story is told in the alternating voices of Helen, who has long suffered terrifying schizophrenic hallucinations and is serving a life sentence for killing her two small children; Helen’s psychiatrist, a single mother who came to work at the prison out of guilt over a patient’s suicide; a corrections officer who becomes involved with the psychiatrist; and an ambitious Hollywood star whom Helen believes to be her sister. Moore gradually probes Helen’s psychosis to its horrifying origins, while also delivering a nuanced and devastating account of the fights, rapes, and alliances built from necessity that constitute prison life.
Copyright © 2007 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400076102
• ISBN-13: 978-1400076109
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,010,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth the trip into the dark places of the mind, July 14, 2007

By 

J. A. Davis "jadecat" (Northern Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Girls (Hardcover)

Although the subject matters explored in this book are not ones I particularly wish to think about it, I found myself utterly engrossed. Set in a women's prison, this haunting story is told through the viewpoints of four very different people (yet all linked together in some way). I found the author's style of writing through short entries, jumping back in forth between each equally fascinating character to be clever and refreshing. That may sound confusing, but one could certainly follow the storyline and figure out what was going on in no time. What I couldn't figure out, was how it would end. Not for the faint of heart, this book was emotionally wrenching and equally shocking. I definitely recommend it, especially for a book discussion group.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sushi master with words, May 13, 2007

By 

Phillip Phan (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Girls (Hardcover)

This could have been another story on human error and redemption. It's not. Four people, warden, prisoner, doctor and guard, are caged together in their pain and neuroses. If you think you know prison life, and why people end up in prison, read 'Big Girls'. Moore writes with a clinical precision that evokes powerful emotion. I did not anticipate feeling sorry for the women at Sloatsburg; they are, after all, the detritus of our society. But 'Big Girls' is not about the politics of the criminal justice system or a commentary on social ills (though it could well be.) I chose to read it the way Moore wrote - as compact narrative and incisive dialog. Read this at least twice and then read it again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too many stories in one, too many co-incidences, interesting but flawed, June 18, 2007

By 

Suzanne Amara (MA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Big Girls (Hardcover)

Like so many novels I've read lately, this one just tries to cram too much into too small a space. What's wrong with telling one story? That of Helen would have been plenty---an abused woman and child who then kills her children and is in prison. Or the story of a woman haunted by her own demons who becomes a prison psychiatrist, or the story of a rising young star, or the story of a prison guard. But not all four. They do all tie together in a way, but much of this hinges on unlikely coincidences, which the author herself seems a little embarrassed about, as she has a character say that if she was making what happened fictional, she would leave out some of the coincidences as too unlikely! Good advice she didn't take! The characters all seem based on stories in the news, nothing has too much originality. I think the author has talent, and I would like to have read a novel about Helen alone. I did keep reading, and although all outcomes seemed a little pre-determined and expected, I did keep reading to see them. So a wishy-washy 3 for this one!