Customer Reviews

Charity Girl

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

During World War I, American authorities indiscriminately arrested and incarcerated over 30,000 women, most of whom committed no crime. Jailed for dressing provocatively, walking without escorts or prostitution, over half of the arrested women were detained for months while receiving treatment for venereal disease. Whipped-up by war frenzy and encouraged by the progressives' desire to cleanse and perfect society, this little-known assault on women's freedom stands as a terrible stain on civil liberties. Through the experiences of an imagined protagonist, Freida Mintz, Novelist Michael Lowenthal effectively personalizes history. "Charity Girl," a euphemism for a woman who has consensual sexual relations with a man, is an engrossing, compassionate and provocative novel, one which examines the consequences of repression dressed-up as national security. In this light, Lowenthal has crafted a work that adroitly links the past to the present.

The daughter of two indigent Russian-Jewish immigrants, Freida Mintz comes of age at a time of extraordinary national transformation. Chafing at the restrictions imposed by her embittered mother and mourning the loss of an ebullient, loving father, Freida rejects an arranged marriage and, like many other young women, sets out to create herself in an urban setting. She labors as an underpaid service worker in a Boston department store, stretching her savings and savoring independence unknown to her immigrant predecessors. Befriended by Lou, an irrepressible force, "unlike any other girl Freida had known...so brassy, so lavishly alive," Freida plunges headfirst into life. The waters of this newfound freedom are choppy, and Freida's sexual liaison with a soldier leads her on a path of personal discovery and extreme pain.

Felix Morse symbolizes all of Freida's dreams: love, security and adventure. Her quest to see him at his nearby Army base leads to her degradation and subsequent detention at a converted brothel, housing a number of women arrested for specious or discriminatory reasons. A brutally impersonal gynecological examination results in Freida learning of her being infected with a venereal disease, one that will keep her quarantined until "cured." It is during this coerced incarceration that Freida comes to grips with her life.

Lowenthal is at his best when he describes the conflicting urges the innocent Freida experiences. She tries to balance her need for autonomy with her dreams for romantic love, and the protagonist forces herself to strip away the veneer of her guardians' rhetoric to discover the hidden truths of their motivation. "Charity Girl" has a splendid cast of minor characters, each of whom has a distinctive personality and all of whom advance either the plot or Freida's development as a woman. The author never descends into didactic dialogue and resists the temptation to stereotype his characters. The result is a rich, complex population. Sadly, however, "Charity Girl" has an abrupt, unsatisfying conclusion. Lowenthal is guilty to trying to compress too much history, too much time in far too few pages.

Increasingly, American authors find historical fiction as an important means of exploring past injustices. Through the prism of one person's experiences, novelists illuminate the consequences of benighted political practices and remind us of how hard it was for those injured by prejudice and social hysteria to live authentic lives. "Charity Girl" skillfully contrasts one young woman's innocent drive to live a full life with a nation intimidated by fear. The resultant conflict, experienced by thousands of dissidents -- both men and women -- broke many lives. That Freida Mintz confronted both prejudice and her own fractured dreams, speaks volumes about human resiliency. Michael Lowenthal has served both the past and future well in this breakthrough novel.

Congratulations to Michael Lowenthal on this impressive work. There is more to this book than the story of a horrifying episode in American history. The growth of the main character, and the complexities of her relationships, hold the reader's interest throughout. It is also a credible glimpse into wartime America, with the "support our boys" mentality, contrasted with the country's passion for such stress-relievers as baseball games and dance halls. The author's meticulous research combines with a clear, colorful writing style, resulting in a remarkable novel. This book is an excellent choice for a book club, as it provides a wealth of material for discussion. I look forward to Michael Lowenthal's next book.

This is a thoroughly engrossing read, both entertaining and informative.
Lowenthal recreates the era masterfully, providing interesting historic detail
which he supplements with appropriate dialogue and phrases ("gone to freckles").
Yet the historic background never overpowers the well paced plot and the
thoroughly credible characters. Both Frieda, the young protagonist, and her
mother are skillfully developed, as is much of the supporting cast. The reader sympathizes with Frieda's struggle to "stop letting `want to be' trump `is' " and marvels at her capacity for self-deception.
The narration is a thorough interweaving of introspection, dialogue and action.
The strongest scenes involve Lowenthal's explorations of the mind-set of the Charity
Girls and, more importantly, the attitudes of their "wardens" and the prevailing culture. The motifs behind the wheel of the car and on the
baseball field work splendidly.
Charity Girls is a novel you don't want to miss.

Charity Girl by Michael Lowenthal covers a dark period in American history. In WWI 15,000 women were detained by the government because they suffered from sexually transmitted diseases and were determined to be a threat to American soldiers and therefore to national security. Freida Mintz falls head of heels in love with soldier Felix Morse, but their one night of love leaves her jobless, sick, and soon in a detention home. Freida befriends the other girls in the home and learns a great deal about herself and life. That's the short summary, but this book is so much more complex than that. Freida struggles with feelings of betrayal by Felix, anger toward her mother, and guilt at her own actions. Lowenthal does an amazing job of portraying all of the characters as truly human. No one is purely good or bad, and the inconsistent actions by Freida are all too real. Felix writes beautiful love letters to Freida, but never makes the attempt to rescue her, and ultimately his actions leave her alone. This book is extremely timely with its discussion of how far the government will go in curbing citizens rights to protect national security. The intentions were good, but the procedures destroyed people's lives. Lowenthal is alternately graphic and modest is his depictions of sex, but the point he makes about the importance of sexual education rings true. The book is never preachy; it's just a well-written story with some of the most human characters I've found.

Another excellent book by Lowenthal!! Charity Girl provides a riveting glimpse into an important historical topic that has not been dealt with much in American literature. Lowenthal has a keen eye for character, plot, and detail. I very much enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it.

Charity Girls provides a powerful look inside this horrifying time when women were forcibly confined for having venereal diseases. Although fictionalized, the message was unrelenting in providing a view into what went on in these "internment camps." It is all too possible to see the politicians posturing, and people like Alice and the "guard" with hidden agendas. I had no idea that these places were prevalent during WWII in the U.S. It is disheartening to know that women of this socio-economic background were subjected to this inhumane treatment.

Based on a little-known World War I-era government campaign to imprison women who contracted 'social diseases' is CHARITY GIRL, which imagines one such woman's experiences. Frieda is the teen daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants to Boston who has fled her repressive home and an arranged marriage to become an independent worker. Her involvement with soldier Felix will lead to her detention and many eye-opening revelations in this gripping story, perfect for public libraries where patrons appreciate historical fiction.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Michael Lowenthal's novel, "Charity Girl," shines a light on a corner of American history during WWI that many of us had never heard of. Our government, allegedly to protect GIs, incarcerated 15,000 women suspected of venereal disease infections. Naturally, the practice, not unlike other such hysterical practices to "protect the public" during times of national emergency, paid no attention to violated civil rights. And, not at all unusual then and now, the military men who infected women were never charged, arrested, nor detained for their part in the supposed crime. "Charity Girl", is the story of an unfortunate, impoverished teenager who is infected by the soldier-son of a wealthy, politically-connected family, and is subsequently arrested and confined.

Lowenthal's novel probes deep into the physical and emotional responses of Frieda, a poor young Jewish girl, a department store package wrapper, who has fled an intolerable mother and an arranged marriage. Literally, struggling to pay her rent and subsist on a few crumbs a day, she is also desperate to be loved. Not unlike others of the day, Frieda seeks affection in one of the primary hunting grounds available to big city girls of that era, dance halls called "ballrooms."

There Frieda does meet Felix, the man of her dreams, who also has and shares his venereal disease.

Lowenthal leads his readers through the young woman's life, her dreams and her despair, her treatment when instituionalized with hardened prostitutes as well as those of mothering instincts. We share her angst as well as the few simple joys she can glean from detention and recovering from painful and humiliating disease. We watch, too, as she grows from a life that has taught her she is inadequate and sinful until the end of this fascinating tale when, despite the odds, Frieda has developed enough self respect -- at great physical and emotional cost -- to go on to find a life worth living.

Most astonishing of all about "Charity Girl" is that it is a man who has revealed these intimate facets of a young and damaged woman's healing. Wondrous to this reader, too, he never stepped outside the role, rather Lowenthal kept always in Frieda's point of view. His sensitivity and profound insight into Frieda in the midst of the cruel landscape of that historical period are breathtaking. Finally, I found author Lowenthal's prose refreshingly lean and spare unmuddied by the superfluous language that must have been tempting given the unfolding melodrama of Frieda's harsh life. Under such circumstances his control of the story keeps our tension close to the bone in an unforegettable tale that is all too close to similar attitudes and practices in contemporary America.

Got off to a slow start. The characters are a little annoying. I found the jacket summary of the book more interesting than reading the story. It had potential to really capture my attention, as the plot is very interesting. The structure wasn't there.

I just finished reading Charity Girl and it is excellent. History has kept the internment of women a well kept secret. The fictional story of Frieda Mintz shows how hastily made decisions can change a life forever. She is harmed by her decisions to leave home and to fall for a cute guy. Furthermore, she is harmed by the governments decisions on how to deal with sexual diseases. The author does an excellent job of showing how these decisions force her to suffer and grow. He also shows their lasting affect. It is a very easy read. I read it in two days but if I had more time, I could have finished in one !