The Torn Skirt (Paperback)

by Rebecca Godfrey (Author) "Blame it on the Pleasure Family..." (more)
Key Phrases: burnout boys, skinhead girl, skin mags, Dirk Wallace, White Oaks, Dean Black (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
When Sara's hippie father catches her masturbating after school, he can't handle what he's witnessed. In one of this whip-smart debut's many surreal scenes, he decides to move out effective immediately. Godfrey's novel is full of equally disconcerting episodes, but its brash honesty gives them a giddily delightful spin. The departure of 16-year-old Sara's single father leaves her to fend for herself, and she quickly heads down the wrong path in mid-'80s Victoria, British Columbia. An obsession with Justine, a strangely alluring street girl, leads her into the red-light district, where she meets China, a teenage prostitute who persuades Sara to help her rob a john. As the new friends flee the crime scene, the deceived man threatens Sara, vowing to get revenge. Sure enough, just as she finally finds Justine again, she is accosted by the man, and Justine nearly kills him with a knife belonging to Sara. Though the book is a hell-ride through the lives of burned-out teens killing time in homeless shelters and drug houses, the scenery is transformed by Godfrey's angry cleverness: one character is "like the rising rowdy moment of a party just before the cops arrive and send everyone home." Though secondary figures like Sara's father and China don't get the thorough treatment Godfrey gives Sara, Godfrey's singular voice is a perfect barometer of teenage rage and insecurity.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-As a teen in the mid-'80s in British Columbia, Sara Shaw has two lives. At home, she is the responsible daughter who cleans, launders, and manages the bills for her feckless, addicted father. At school, aptly nicknamed "Mount Drug," she hangs out with a group of stoned delinquents. When her father suddenly abandons her, she leaves home for the back alleys of Victoria where she is swept into the world of runaways, pimps, prostitutes, and addicts. Despite the graphic sexual situations and language, this is a touching book about a sensitive, articulate teen who longs for security while recklessly courting danger. She misses her mother who still lives in the commune Sara and her father had left. She regrets not befriending a girl at her school, and tries to compensate by helping the young women she meets on the streets and in a shelter. She imagines life with the kind foster family she is offered, but can't make herself leave the streets and go to them. This first novel is suspenseful, surprisingly funny, and thought provoking. Godfrey's portrayal of the anguish and hope of troubled teens has a searing authenticity.
Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060094850
• ISBN-13: 978-0060094850
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #435,967 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gritty coming-of-age tale..., February 17, 2003

By	Dianna Johnston "Compulsive Reader" (Joplin, MO) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For those who enjoy books about teenagers and coming-of-age stories, The Torn Skirt is just for you. Rebecca Godfrey's offering, however, is a very dark, edgy tale of drugs, prostitution, crime, and runaways. Very good and very scary.

Sara Shaw is tough. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she lives with her hippie, drug-addict father and plays the role of caretaker and billpayer as best she can. Suddenly, once Sara turns 16, things in her life start changing. A form of rebellion heats up inside of her, made more flammable by her father's abrupt departure from her life and a strange and elusive girl named Justine whom she meets while skipping school. Now Sara is on her own and not sure where to go from there. However, the girl Justine has piqued her interest and Sara sets out to find her again. This journey will lead Sara into a world of all sorts of illegal, terrifying things -- a journey that ultimately comes to a horrible conclusion.

I enjoyed this book, but I believe it isn't for everybody. The writing style is a bit poetic, which at times can be sort of weird (and annoying) to read through. Rebecca Godrey is quite talented, though, and the foreshadowing of the ending was enough to keep me turning the pages to find out what happens. The Torn Skirt does open readers' eyes to a new world of teenage rebellion and all the scary things that hide around each corner. The character of Sara Shaw is both innocent and experienced, and I felt motherly and protective toward this girl while reading her story. The mark of a good book: one where the author has managed to make me truly care about a character. Sara Shaw, The Torn Skirt, and Rebecca Godfrey will remain in my mind for quite some time.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brutally honest chronicles of a teenage runaway!, November 3, 2002

By	CoffeeGurl (MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I have read various book of this sort -- a coming-of-age story of a teenager who learns the facts of life the hard way. However, Rebecca Godfrey's The Torn Skirt is written with a fresh approach to brutal honesty. The novel's language is beautiful and sinister at the same time.

After her father abandons her, Sara's journey is one of struggle and heartbreak. Her loss of innocence is gruesome and disturbing -- especially when she encounters various teenage prostitutes...

Few authors have dared to enter this uncharted territory in fiction. However, this book is so beautifully written it is to be savored over time, like an exceptional wine. One must open one's eyes and see that the real world -- especially when seen through the eyes of a child -- isn't sugarcoated. And that is why I love this sort of literature.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not what you might expect, November 8, 2002

By A Customer

The reviews I've seen of this book talk about drugs and wild nights--but believe me, folks, this ain't no ANIMAL HOUSE, nor Bret Easton Ellis neither. Sara Shaw is amazing, completely un-self-aware; you want to wrap her up tight till the storm passes, or shake her (a little) in hopes that maybe, just maybe, she could see about herself what YOU see in her; but you also know she wouldn't allow it.....This here's a literary gem, all the more powerful because it's not afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve.