The Home Girls [Hardcover]

Olga Masters (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Realistic details of poverty and family life in rural Australia animate this collection of 20 concise, direct and often ironic short stories by the late, prize-winning author of Amy's Children. Appearance, clothing and such actions as leaving the breakfast dishes unwashed, stepping on a child in a doorway or kicking the dog reveal the emotional states of characters and the dynamics of family relationships. Masters's focus is often on children, who narrate many of these tales: the control they wield over events in the title story and "Leaving Home"; their subordination to their parents' needs, seen in "The Snake and Bad Tom"; their capacity to share parents' traits, as in "The Sea on Sunday," or act as foils to adults, as in "On the Train." In Masters's view, marriage is a fantasy unfulfilled ("A Young Man's Fancy") or a trade-off ("The Done Thing"), with the children essential as observers, go-betweens and the reasons for carrying on. This collection, originally published in Australia in 1983, speaks in no uncertain terms of the difficulties of women's and children's lives.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Masters died in 1986, having published five award-winning story collections and novels in her native Australia. The Home Girls , her first book of short stories, is her third work published in the United States. Here are 20 vignettes of poverty and misery during the Australian depression featuring hopeless characters described starkly: the fat child and the thin one, shuffled from one foster home to the next; the seven little Wents, who have never seen the sea 15 miles from their home; Maud, Mrs. McMahon, and "the mother," all exhausted by despotic husbands and unending children (Masters herself had seven). Rare flashes of spirit and humor cannot lighten the burden that these stories place on the reader. Recommended for writing students and serious fiction collections.
- Maurice Taylor, Brunswick Cty. Lib., Southport, N.C.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 194 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc (July 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393028534
• ISBN-13: 978-0393028539
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,710,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet stories, March 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Home Girls (Paperback)

Olga Masters has complied an interesting selcetion of short stories dealing with a range of issues. Her use of description is very powerful and often avoids describing step-by-step what is happening in a action sequence, instead describes the reaction from people and the effects of what has happened. This combined with her writing in third person creates an atmosphere for the reader like they are right in middle of the room watching.

Each story is told from th point of view of a middle aged woman or a little girl. The thing I like most about each story is the way they all end. It can be very fustraiting as we don't get told what will now happen but it is also very interesting. The thing I dislike most about the stories are the way they start, often in the middle of an action sequence and very confusing.

I would reccomend this book to people who enjoy reading from the point of veiw of adults aswell as children. Also for people who don't mind a selection of short stories that are set in very different times with very different characters to one another.