The Girls: ‘Savour every page’ Observer

Emma Cline

Jun 2016 · Random House

About this ebook

A gripping and dark fictionalised account of life inside the Manson family.

If you’re lost, they’ll find you...

Evie Boyd is fourteen and desperate to be noticed.

It’s the summer of 1969 and restless, empty days stretch ahead of her. Until she sees them. The girls. Hair long and uncombed, jewellery catching the sun. And at their centre, Suzanne, black-haired and beautiful.

If not for Suzanne, she might not have gone. But, intoxicated by her and the life she promises, Evie follows the girls back to the decaying ranch where they live.

Was there a warning? A sign of what was coming? Or did Evie know already that there was no way back?

‘Taut, beautiful and savage, Cline’s novel demands your attention’ Guardian

Ratings and reviews

I very much enjoyed this read but I wish some had highlighted before I bought it, that if you are familiar at all with Helter Skelter (or the true crime reporting about Charles Manson) you will likely understand very early on where the story is headed. Having said that, the book is very well written and I finished in a couple of days. A solid holiday read!

This story was about belonging, and the desperation to be seen in your adolescence mixed with the social climate of the late 60's. It is an insight into the mind of a young woman, desperate to be a part of something. Evie is critical of everyone in her life and desperately wants to be different to the women surrounding her who are thirsty for the acceptance of men. The girls are free, brave, independent, fun and so different to all that Evie resents, but is different safe?

Fantastic page turner

About the author

Emma Cline is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of The Girls and the story collection Daddy. The Girls was a finalist for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. It was a New York Times Editors' Choice and was the winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. Cline's stories have been published in The New Yorker, Granta, The Paris Review and The Best American Short Stories. She received the Plimpton Prize from The Paris Review and an O'Henry Award, and was chosen as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists.