Whores on the Hill: A Novel [Paperback]

Colleen Curran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2005

The girls of Sacred Heart Holy Angels eye the good dancers at the all-ages club Metropolis. They waste afternoons at the mall, check out parties on the lake, burn through candid, casual sex.

Everybody calls them the Whores on the Hill, but they don't care.

It is the mid-'80s and they go to the last all-girls' school in Milwaukee, where innocence is scarce and happiness is something to grabbed at in the backseat of a fast car.

Meet exuberant, uninhibited Astrid, her nervy, troubled friend Juli and Thisbe, the shy, ascetic newcomer. They are fifteen years old. And they believe they can take on the world, no matter what it calls them.

But when euphoric promiscuity mixes with a series of dangerous, deadly pranks, their world at Sacred Heart Holy Angels can never be the same.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[An] arresting first novel. . . . What makes it sing are the lyrical descriptions of the intensity of those first times—including first betrayal by a best friend—and the aftermath of 'remorse . . . grit and shame and a broken, nameless joy.' Quick-moving, cleanly written: a promising start for Curran." --Kirkus

"The 'whores' in this novel are a trio of schoolgirls gone wild. Curran's gripping narrative is so vivid that it'll bring back the anguish of being 16 and angry; you'll feel relieved those days are long-gone." --Glamour

"This is no cautionary tale, but rather a heartbreaking portrait of what life can be like when, as Thisbe says, 'you're fifteen and knobby-kneed and you only had a handful of choices. Your world was small and cruel and narrow-minded and breathtaking." --Teen Vogue

About the Author

Colleen Curran grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her stories have been published in places like Jane and The Dictionary of Failed Relationships. She now lives in Richmond, Virginia. Whores on the Hill is her first novel.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400079950
• ISBN-13: 978-1400079957
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #956,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars GO HO GIRLS!, May 19, 2005

By 

twizzle stick - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whores on the Hill: A Novel (Paperback)

Power to the women! These girls make choices..whether it is dating, pregnancy or a romp with another girl, they make choices. I'm not sure I agree that this book is for teenagers but dating mates should read it to learn what girls are thinking. I agree with another reviewer that the writing is not so good but I like the liberal feminist approach.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Significant Review, June 30, 2005

By 

HLR (Plum Village) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whores on the Hill: A Novel (Paperback)

I decided to order and read this book because of the difference in opinions (many heated!) among the amazon.com reviewers. As a teacher and connoisseur of coming of age literature, I wanted to see what all the hype was about and make up my own mind about this book.

Whores on the Hill isn't a literary masterpiece and it isn't intended to be likened to the classic and canonical works written by "great authors." It is simply one author's tale of growing up white (or Asian-American like Juli), middle to upper class, promiscuous, alienated, and full of inexplicable angst.

Aside from the fictional plot twists and turns, this book paints a realistic portrait of what happens to many young women as they come of age in our turbulent and sex-obsessed culture. While many readers did not appreciate the book's in-your-face language or sexuality, Curran's depiction of these two things is, sadly, dead on and true to life. The coming of age issues and resulting implications are not always made manifest for the reader; instead, he or she must draw them out, help to paint that picture, or fail to see the point.

Banning the book, as some reviewers have suggested, is not the answer, nor is denying or demeaning the life experiences of the young women who write reviews saying that they can relate to this book. Instead, we must listen to what these young women and the characters in this book are telling us. Something is deeply wrong in our culture, but it's not Curran's book or books like it that is causing the problems we see young women facing and experiencing in adolescence.

I enjoyed reading Whores on the Hill and found it captivating. Perhaps this book is more suitable to the young adult to college age crowd as opposed to the more adult or "parent" reader. But I would urge parents to read it and even if you LOATHE the book, learn from it. If we fail to see the meaning in novels like this one and simply condemn it based on our personal beliefs or its literary merits, then we fail today's adolescents as well. You don't have to like this book, you only have to consider it.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING book, May 22, 2005

By 

Calymne Nocturne "calymne" (Brookfield, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whores on the Hill: A Novel (Paperback)

This is NOT a coming of age novel by any means... but it is a "coming of responsibility" novel. I live in Wauwatosa, just outside of Milwaukee and right where this book takes place. Half of the places they mention I know where they are. Originally, I picked up this book just as a laugh because it was supposed to be based on DSHA (Divine Savior Holy Angels... see a connection?) the last all girls Catholic school in Milwaukee. But after reading it, I liked it for much more than that.

The girls in this book are crazy and wild. Halfway through the book, you sit there thinking: 'Wow. Wouldn't it be amazing to live like that, without any restrictions?' until at the end, you close the book and go, 'Wow. Who would ever want to do that to themselves?'

Don't believe the bad reviews from concerned parents that this book is getting. I'm a straightedge kid (no sex, no drugs, no alcohol) and this book most definitely didn't change my mind about any of that. It was well written and it really grabs you: the characters are life-like and incredible.

I highly recomend this book to anyone and everyone, especially if you live in the area.