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"One thing I've learned is that strange things do happen. They happen all the
time. Today, for instance, my best friend Jill's cat spoke. We were making brownies in the
kitchen when we heard it say, 'Let me out.'"
Thus begins another magical adventure by Alice Hoffman. She infuses suburban angst and a
significant dose of otherworldly sensitivity into her latest novel, LOCAL GIRLS: a
collection of short stories that ring true with their depictions of a family's legacy of
fear, desire and hope.
Jill and Gretel are best friends. Gretel's mom, Frances, is sick, and her cousin (and best
friend), Margot, tries to hold everybody together. Her brother, Jason, is a science
prodigy who eventually turns to the darker side of himself, and Frieda, Gretel's beloved
grandmother, comes and goes throughout the stories, in life and in spirit, bringing with
her the wisdom of great life lessons. These men and women go through a whole array of
experiences together, but LOCAL GIRLS doesn't give us the story from one voice ---
instead, every character has an opportunity to give us a look at what's going on from her
perspective.
Gretel is the character we spend the most time with, looking backward and forward on the
events of her family's life together, mostly after her father is out of the picture. He
walked out on her mother after a long marriage, taking up with a younger woman who his
children (and ex) really hate. It's not a happy situation, and Hoffman is able to get us
deep inside each person who has been affected by his betrayals. However, instead of ending
on sad, depressing notes, most of the stories in LOCAL GIRLS (not all, but most) reward us
with a life-affirming look at what drives us to pursue our deepest desires, keep secrets
to ourselves or find the courage to open ourselves up again to love and life when someone
close has let us down.
Each story gets so completely inside the characters' heads that you will feel as if you
have met these people before, in life or in literature. At the end of the episodic
stories, you are left with a remarkably complete picture of the lives of three generations
of women and the other important people in their lives. They love, they lie, they get sick
and they die...none of this will ruin any of the surprises that await you in Hoffman's
latest magical universe.
STILL AMONG THE LIVING and LOCAL GIRLS, the last two stories in the book, deal with the
aftermath of death in what has to be the most positive way I have encountered in any
contemporary fiction. We practically stand up and cheer as we see our beloved Margot and
Gretel take important steps towards moving on with their lives, pushing their sadness
aside for something much greater to come. This is one of the most hopeful books I've ever
read.
All author profits are being donated to breast cancer care and research organizations.
Alice Hoffman proves that she lives the way she writes, with compassion and love for
humankind and the foibles and frailties that drive us to our everyday decisions. This is
more than a great summer read --- its beauty and elegance and hope will stay with you long
after the last page has been turned.
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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