The Big Girls (Vintage Contemporaries) by Susanna Moore (ISBN:1400076102)

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		The Big Girls (Vintage Contemporaries)
	
				(9 reviews)			
(91 Readers)

			Susanna Moore		
	
Helen is serving a life sentence at Sloatsburg women's prison for the murder of her children. Dr. Louise Forrest, a recently divorced mother of an...more
 Helen is serving a life sentence at Sloatsburg women's prison for the murder of her children. Dr. Louise Forrest, a recently divorced mother of an eight-year-old boy, is the new chief of psychiatry there. Captain Ike Bradshaw is the corrections officer who wants her. And Angie, an ambitious Hollywood starlet contacted by Helen, is intent on nothing but fame. Drawing these four characters together in a story of shocking and disturbing revelations, The Big Girls is an electrifying novel about the anarchy of families, the sometimes destructive power of maternal instinct, and the cult of celebrity.   less

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Showing 7 of 9 reviews

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
A good psychological read.  I loved how similar the characters were, how it showed that psychological problems do not automatically stick you in a cell or disallow you from leading an upstanding life.  Loved the reality of single parenting shown and the reality of false testimony from children.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
interesting, fast read. nothing amazing, but it does give you the sense that you are in the minds of these people.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
This was the first Susanna Moore I ever read. I've since read all her novels, and I'd call this my second favorite after IN THE CUT, which is very high on my list. THE BIG GIRLS is darker, if less dramatic than IN THE CUT. Some will find it relentlessly dark, but the characters are driven by a kind of blind hope that I remember from my teens, when I kept pulling myself out of relatively...more
 This was the first Susanna Moore I ever read. I've since read all her novels, and I'd call this my second favorite after IN THE CUT, which is very high on my list. THE BIG GIRLS is darker, if less dramatic than IN THE CUT. Some will find it relentlessly dark, but the characters are driven by a kind of blind hope that I remember from my teens, when I kept pulling myself out of relatively hopeless situations to get closer to feeling alive. 

On a second reading, I'm struck by the idea that the characters have so few redeeming features, yet I care for them. This is a testament to Moore's uniquely sympathetic interpretation of people who consistently make poor choices. 

I recommend it,.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
jul 08. not quite trashy fiction, not quite literature: four interwoven narratives about lives that come together in a strange way. probably no other book tries to get you inside the head of a schizophrenic woman childkilling prisoner, a frustrated woman prison psychologist, a male prison guard and a drug addled hollywood starlet, but this book does, though the characters and events strained...more
 jul 08. not quite trashy fiction, not quite literature: four interwoven narratives about lives that come together in a strange way. probably no other book tries to get you inside the head of a schizophrenic woman childkilling prisoner, a frustrated woman prison psychologist, a male prison guard and a drug addled hollywood starlet, but this book does, though the characters and events strained credulity at times.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Read this book last week after it sat on my "to read" shelf for months.  Really enjoyed it and it makes me want to explore more of Ms. Moore's books.  Interesting development of characters - at times I had to go back several pages to see if I missed something, but found after a while that if I just continued reading, my questions were answered, either implicitly or explicitly.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Very dark, yet very interesting book.  Took me a little time to get into it, but once I was I couldn't put it down.  I thought the setting in the women's prison was interesting, but had trouble keeping track of all the prisoner characters.  I found the descriptions of child sexual abuse hard to stomach, but realize that unfortunately this is a disgusting reality.  Not recommended for...more
 Very dark, yet very interesting book.  Took me a little time to get into it, but once I was I couldn't put it down.  I thought the setting in the women's prison was interesting, but had trouble keeping track of all the prisoner characters.  I found the descriptions of child sexual abuse hard to stomach, but realize that unfortunately this is a disgusting reality.  Not recommended for anyone easily shocked or offended by the darker side of life.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
I really enjoyed this book. At first I had some difficulty getting into the book because there were no chapters, and all the character's streams of thought seemed to run together. At first, I thought the narrative voices were too simplistic too. However, I turned out to be wrong in the last respect. The stream of conciousness narrative was really the most effective since most of the...more
 I really enjoyed this book. At first I had some difficulty getting into the book because there were no chapters, and all the character's streams of thought seemed to run together. At first, I thought the narrative voices were too simplistic too. However, I turned out to be wrong in the last respect. The stream of conciousness narrative was really the most effective since most of the characters were undergoing internal struggles, and these struggles sometimes manifested themselves in outward expressions. I also found the grammatical distinctions expressed between Helen, the inmate and the other characters particularly effective because these grammatical distinctions helped convey that Helen was not sound of mind and that she was possibly mentally challenged as well. Although sometimes it was difficult to distinguish who was speaking at a given point in the book, I overall found the way the book was written unique and refreshing. In all, the book is very realist and accurate. I definitely recommend this book.   hide

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