Bad Girls, Good Women [Hardcover]

Rosie Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1989

Best friends, Julia and Mattie escape their dreary, suburban youth for the excitement of London. Mattie becomes a celebrated actress, and Julia marries an aristocrat. This extraordinary story of two women's lives over two decades explores the price of experience, the loss of innocence, and the endurance of friendship against the test of time.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the late 1950s, Julia and Mattie, two English teens, flee the stifling confines of their suburban homes for the excitement of swinging London. Over the span of three decades, Thomas ( The White Dove ) makes their lively friendship glow with rude life. From the dim dance floor of the Rocket Club to the streets of Soho and on into the English countryside, the two charm and bluff their way into parties, hearts and careers. As an actress in a gritty modern play, Mattie strikes gold first. Julia drifts aimlessly into marriage with a member of the landed gentry, but a ruinous fire and an unassuaged longing for the love of an elusive aviator sends her back to London to carve out a niche for herself. Thomas has a gift for breathing life into settings and situations that in other hands might be overly familiar. By turns romantic and poignant, and brimming with vitality and spirited dialogue, her deftly written, emotionally involving novel should bring her new fans. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/ promo. BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A big, juicy novel, this is the story of Julia and Mattie, two vivacious English girls who run away to London in 1955. Recklessly rebellious Mattie, escaping childhood poverty and sexual abuse, wants to be an actress. Julia, stylish and smart, just knows she must get away from her repressive parents. The girls' hunger for life sets the tone for the novel, as we follow them through the sleaziest and most glamorous parts of London; through three decades of relationships, marriages, career struggles, mother-daughter conflicts, and a friendship that wavers but never dies. Thomas has an appealing writing style and knows how to reach beyond the basics of light fiction to involve the reader as her characters grow in strength and maturity. From the author of The White Dove (LJ 5/15/86), this is a "good read" in the best sense of the term. BOMC main selection.
- Donna Schulman, Cornell Univ. ILR Lib., New York
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 664 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (April 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553053566
• ISBN-13: 978-0553053562
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,027,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enrapturing, July 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bad Girls, Good Women (Hardcover)

The language used in the book is so amazing, the way everything is described. The characters are so very realistic, you become wrapped up in their lives, and feel as though they were your friends since childhood. It is an incredible book, it really gives the reader a better understanding of themselves,and others.

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite "Chick Lit" Book, December 21, 2011

By 

Book Woman (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Girls, Good Women (Paperback)

This is my favorite "chick lit" novel. It traces the lives and 30-year friendship (from the late 1950s to the late 1970s) of two British girls who run away together from their repressive suburban backgrounds.

Mattie is a lower-class girl who struggles to overcome the poverty and sexual abuse in her past and become a famous actress; while Julia is an intelligent, loving, yet headstrong person who allows a tragic fire and an obsession with an American aviator to destroy her marriage until she matures enough to realize what she had.

The author has a gift for expressive language, witty dialogue, and developing her characters so that you sympathize and stick with them through more than 600 pages, even with all of their faults. Although slow paced at times (it literally takes years for Julia to realize that she still loves her ex-husband and even more years before they finally get back together), you are so wrapped up in the characters and their lives that when you finally come to the sad yet satisfying ending of this book, you feel you have made a worthwhile journey with two friends.

All in all, a great novel about the changing roles of women and the bonds that can grow between them.