Customer Reviews

The Palace of Strange Girls

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Palace of Strange Girls is Sallie Day's debut novel. Day grew up in England and her father ran a cotton mill, so it stands to reason why the father in this book also works in a cotton mill. Strange Girls revolves around the Singleton family on their holiday in July 1959. By all outward appearances they are your typical family living in the recession of the late 50's. Ruth, mom and wife, runs her house the way all housewives should: with a dust mop and financially iron fist. Husband/father Jack is dependable and hardworking. Teenage daughter Helen obeys her parents every command, and youngest daughter Beth tries to be normal with her abnormal childhood. Ruth tries her best to make her family as status quo and typical as possible, but there are secrets underneath the pretty polka-dot facade, and she can't keep them hidden if she doesn't know what they are.

It took me a while to be attracted to Strange Girls. The beginning felt sluggish and unformed. By the middle I was used to the flashbacks which help paint the hidden secrets behind the Singleton family, and I was able to start really enjoying the story. The characters were interesting and individual; I enjoyed the tense atmostphere surrounding Ruth, and the pity I felt for Beth who is just trying to be a fun little girl with her I-Spy book. The voice has a nice shift to it depending on which character you're reading about. Each chapter title is an I-Spy item with description, which is both adorable and lighthearted, but turns appropriately serious for the later conflict.

I liked the Singleton family and their flaws and the people that surround. I could clearly visualize Blackpool and the boardwalk and smell the ocean salt. I thought it was a nice, easygoing story, though the end felt incomplete, and the epilogue served as a convenient wrap-up for a few loose strings. I enjoyed the tension between the characters, but felt that it wasn't fully utilized in the beginning. The flashbacks were good, but also felt like another story that could have been written separate from Strange Girls,one that I probably would have liked better. Overall, I enjoyed Sallie Day's debut novel and can really see her potential, but it felt like someone who hadn't been writing for that long. I have a feeling her next work will be more polished and I look forward to seeing what she does. 3 stars.

This is an entertaining and realistic story revolving around the Singletons and their visit to Blackpool, England in 1959. We get acquainted with the parents, Jack and Ruth and their daughters 7-year old Beth and 16-year old Helen.
Beth has been ill and has just come out of the hospital. She is a sweet child who delights in life's simplest pleasures. Helen has befriended a waitress and longs to break free of her mother's rigid rules.
Jack, is caught between unions and owners and his job can be at risk. Also a letter arriving from Crete reveals a secret in his past that can destroy his marriage.
This is not an action-based story but offers captivating details in the lives of a post-World War II English family.

Joyce Akesson, author of Love's Thrilling Dimensions and The Invitation

In 1959 in England, the Singleton family of four goes on vacation at the seaside town of Blackpool. There the father, WWII vet Jack has a difficult decision to make between job offers as manager of Prospect Mill or being a union representative. He conceals his concerns from his demanding wife, Ruth who wants them to buy a new house. His sixteen year old daughter Helen hopes to find a boyfriend soon, but believes to do this she needs the latest fashion and freedom from her mom's strict control. His other child seven year old Beth has health issues having just been released from the hospital, but just wants some free time to enjoy the shore, fill in her "I-Spy" book as she tracks everyone and most important escape from her demanding mother's diligence.

This is an enjoyable historical family drama that stars four fully developed characters; all with differing needs and desires that come to a head during the four day vacation. The interrelationships ring true though the solutions at the end of the Singleton family vacation seem to quick and unlikely. Ironically the father and the two kids blame all on the mom due to her demanding manner though she uses her martinet orders to hide her fears from her loved ones. Fans will enjoy Sallie Day's fine trip back to 1959 England.

Harriet Klausner

This novel centers around the Singletons, a family of four visiting Blackpool, England on holiday in 1959. Author Sallie Day reveals little at the book's start; the reader learns only that youngest daughter Beth, who initially seems to be at the center of the story, has been ill, and that Ruth, the matriarch of the family, clearly is viewed with exasperation by both of her daughters, including 7-year old Beth and 16-year old Helen. What makes for difficult reading early on is that just as one is starting to develop some interest in the women of the family, the plot shifts to Jack, Ruth's husband and the father of the girls, for a seemingly mundane discussion of drinking, work promotions, and the like, although there was a also a vague allusion to a mysterious letter.

Despite the slow start, both the ensemble cast of characters and the plot of this novel itself eventually managed to draw me in. Day reveals both Jack and Ruth to be complex individuals who are not quite likable yet somehow still sympathetic. Even more relatable are Helen, the teenager yearning to break free of her mother's stern grasp, and Beth, the curious child who delights in life's simplest pleasures. The fact that Day constantly shifts perspective from one family member to the next does seem to weigh this book down a bit, but once I became more engrossed in the narrative, this was less of an issue. However, this is definitely not an action-based story: during the family's week-long stay at Blackpool--which Day intersperses with flashbacks to provide some additional history--not all that much actually happens. However, for the dedicated, patient reader, this novel offers a "slice of life" experience, providing a captivating glimpse into a post-World War II English family, one that may be just a bit worse for the wear.

maybe it was just me - i was in the middle of another book when i started the palace of strange girls, and i'd rather go one book at a time so i can put all my attention into one story. i read the first couple of chapters and then went back to my other book, so i had to start all over after i finished the first book. anyway, once i started reading it again, i started getting into it. i really liked jack, despite the mistakes he made during the family's holiday, i loved his optimism, his love for his daughters, his loyalty and how much he loved what he did for a living. i liked helen and her painful need to gain a little independence of her own. you can't help but like beth - how you see bits and pieces of her spirit, despite her mother's coddling.

ruth was the one character i couldn't warm up to. maybe we weren't supposed to? but though she had her good points, i found her strictness, her obsessive need for order, her snobbery and her controlling distasteful. i was even kind of pulling for connie there for a bit.

but the triumph at the end of the story doesn't belong to ruth or jack - even though i was peeved ruth ended up pretty much getting what she wanted; it was beth and helen's. you get the feeling they will overcome their obstacles, even with a domineering mother like ruth.

worth the read, engaging read.

It's summer, 1959, and we join the Singleton family for their annual week-long holiday at The Belvedere in Blackpool. On the surface, all seems well with Jack, Ruth and their daughters, seven year-old Beth and sixteen year-old Helen. But despite appearances, none of them is truly happy. Beth, not long out of hospital, just wanting to fill in her I-Spy book and fit in, is being smothered by an overprotective Ruth. Helen is basically a good girl but really longs for a bit of freedom: deceit may be her only option while Ruth holds the reins tight. Ruth's burning ambition is a new semi-detached house on Boundary Drive, but Jack doesn't want to be saddled with a mortgage. And Jack is weighing up job offers against a sense of responsibility to his family and co-workers as well as mulling over a letter from Crete, a potential threat to his marriage if the secret from his wartime past is revealed.
Sallie Day's stirring descriptions of the town and its associated attractions and distractions take us back to that time with consummate ease. Her characters have real depth and she conveys their emotions and feelings so well that their joys, fears, insecurities, frustrations and guilt are palpable. This story will resonate with anyone who grew up in the late fifties. If they did that growing up in England, the mention of the various household names from that time will evoke the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of their childhood. This expertly crafted story takes some unexpected turns and keeps the reader captivated. The excerpts from I-Spy at the Seaside which head each chapter are echoed in that chapter: a delightful touch. Altogether a brilliant read!

mythoughts

I was raised that "If you can say something nice, then don't say nothing at all"...in which case this review would be blank!

Unfortunately as a book reviewer sometimes you have to say what is not flattering. This is the situation I find myself in with the Palace of Strange Girls.

Simply put.... I don't get it!

I read this book from cover to cover and struggled through each and every page. Perhaps because the book is set in 1959 in England and I was born in Americanapproximately a decade (or so) later I could not relate to the scenarios and situations within the book. I struggled to find common ground, understanding or footing within the story line and characters. I would like to say that it is all because of my lack of knowledge of that time frame and era but I would not be telling the truth.

The Palace of Strange Girls is "strange". I did not find the characters to be like able or enjoyable. I did not find myself sympathetic to the controlling mother, the impulsive father with an Eeyore complex, the teenage daughter who doesn't recognize a promiscuous friend when she sees one or the little girl, Beth, whose character narrates various parts of the story.

I found myself irritated with the mother, annoyed with the teenager, angered at the father and looking for a baby sitter for the child.

As I read the book....I continually had to refer back to previous chapters in order to connect various points. Many time it seemed as if I had missed something important because the story line jumped from one character or topic intoanother.

As I contemplate the characters I realize that so much of what is wrong with this family is to be blamed on the mother...yet her character, attitude and insecurities are never addressed fully.Personally, her character overshadowed and tinged all the other character in a very negative, all-consuming way.

The Palace of Strange Girls takes place in a one week time frame which is difficult to accept as it seems m-u-c-h longer. Even more difficult to accept is that I lost two days reading it. The Palace of Strange Girls

You won't need to have had a close family yourself to understand the true meaning of what a family is all about, after reading "The Palace of Strange Girls," by Sallie Day. The scene is set in the late 1950's on vacation in Blackpool, England. Ruth Singleton and her family enjoy the strict routine that has become their holiday away. Ruth's husband, Jack, is waiting for word of whether his job will end or whether he will have an opportunity for a new beginning. He also is harboring a secret, one that he has chosen to keep locked away from his wife and his family. He is hiding a letter, with news from his past double life. The news has the ability to destroy his family, and he keeps the letter hidden each day from his wife. In a small way, by hiding what effect it could have on his family, he is also hiding the effect of his past actions on his current life - from himself.

The daughters are teenaged Helen, and seven-year-old Beth. Helen is like any 16 year old, and she routinely tests the boundaries of her burgeoning independence. She learns hard lessons and enjoys her new attempts at freedom from the watchful eye of her mother. Beth, is sickly, and is made to wear woolen jumpers in the summer heat, and has to succumb to her mother's efforts to keep her close and not let her develop her own personality.

By the end of the story, the reader comes to see the family as it really is - which is more than slightly dysfunctional. But this flaw is what makes them so charming, and the reader will find something in common with each character. The family is not able to heal itself, and the problems by the end of the book are not necessarily solved to complete resolution. But young Beth makes the most progress of them all, as she learns the lessons of self-acceptance, and understands where she ultimately belongs in the place of her family and in the space of her own small world.

THE PALACE OF STRANGE GIRLS
Sallie Day
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 978-0446-54586-0
$13.99 - Paperback
352 pages
Reviewer: Annie Slessman

THE PALACE OF STRANGE GIRLS is Sallie Day's debut novel. Set in post WWII the late fifties establishes the background of this story of British families, the division of their station in life and how each reacts to the secrets they hold.

The Singleton family consists of father, Jack, his wife, Ruth and their two daughters, Helen and Beth, sixteen and seven respectively. On a holiday at the shore, the Singletons find themselves faced with truths that will eventually define their future.

An interesting class study unfolds within this story and brings with it few surprises. What class distinction meant in the fifties is still alive and well in today's society. How the Singletons deal with this class distinction is what makes this story a good one.

Jack yearns for more than his marriage offers him while Ruth only wants to rise above her classification. Helen, a typical sixteen year old girl, wants to be considered desirable by the young men around her. Beth on the other hand, wants only to complete the requirements of the I-Spy Club.

There are stories interwoven within this one that lead a reader to the satisfaction that their time reading this work was well spent. While the story's premise isn't a new one, it is well written and certainly worth the read.