- Paperback: 202 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial Canada (Oct 13 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0006395864
- ISBN-13: 978-0006395867
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #482,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Sara, the teenaged femme fatale of The Torn Skirt, Rebecca Godfrey's stunning first novel, says she was born with a fever. "Highschool, I was a good girl. I was pretty, I smiled, I fit in fine. And then as I turned sixteen and stopped smiling, the fever returned, though my skin stayed pale and sure, showing no sign of the heat inside me." Awaiting arrest in her cluttered bedroom, Sara offers her own densely lyrical and tragically crooked version of the events that led her to a rain-smeared alley in downtown Victoria and a gruesome crime. A taut mystery embedded in a shocking coming-of-age story, The Torn Skirt combines the chilling naturalism of Mary Gaitskill with the stifling poetic intensity of Elizabeth Smart.
Sara's forehead first begins to sweat when she hears that her boyfriend and his stoner friends have casually gang-raped a girl with a garden hose. But it's not until she spies the elusive street waif Justine--the girl in "the torn skirt"--that the rage and desire burning inside her reach a fever pitch. Trading in her suburban long johns for a white fur coat and a stolen nurse's uniform, Sara pursues this fragile yet dangerous heroine through the underworld of strait-laced Victoria. An extraordinary debut, The Torn Skirt captures the danger and beauty of life on the streets with images that scorch holes in the mind long after its surprising and evocative conclusion. --Lisa Alward --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good story, not great writing style,
By
This review is from: The Torn Skirt (Paperback)
This book was alright. The story could have been really good, but it was told in the most uninteresting manner possible. The story is told from the perspective of the main character Sara. Sara is extraordinarily unemotional and never seems to be affected by her surroundings at all. This makes for a very boring story because it's hard to get attached to a character who seems to be a robot.I couldn't understand why Sara made the decisions she did or why she got weirdly and immediately attached to certain people and not others. It's also hard to feel any emotion towards any situation she confronts when Sara herself also seems to show no emotion. I read the whole book to see what happened, but even by the end I still didn't really care what happened to Sara. So all in all I don't really recommend it and would say chose something like Leslie's Journal or Crank instead.
2.0 out of 5 stars
just ok,
By
This review is from: Torn Skirt (Paperback)
I bought this book from a book clearing house for $1.59, but based on what I had heard and read about it I was fairly excited to read it. The story isn't entirely implausible, yet I just didn't seem realistic enough to enjoy. Younger girls (12-15) may get more enjoyment from it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent and true!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Torn Skirt (Paperback)
I got this after reading a review in Jane magazine. Sara Shaw is a very poetic and powerful heroine. She takes on the world and wins! And I was thoroughly engrossed by her escapades and insights. A quick read, but a BIG story. xxElizabeth
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