The Girls
A Story of Village Life
Format:Paperback
Publisher:McNally Jackson Books
Published:18th Dec '23
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In their lovely old Cotswolds village, Janet and Susan are known to all the other villagers as “the girls” - a fixture. Partners in love and work, co-proprietors of a picturesque shop specialising in the work of local artisans and farmers, they lead an enviable, enviably settled life. So it’s no catastrophe when Sue, the younger of the two, feels the need to take a month to travel on her own, leaving Jan alone to run their stall at the Inland Waterways Rally Craft Fair. Nor is it any real threat when a kindly gay man named Alan lends Jan a hand in Sue’s absence, or when the two wind up sharing some wine and even a bunk for the night. If Jan turns out to be pregnant some weeks after Sue’s return to the nest, what’s that but cause for joy? And when Alan happens to come visiting, by and by, finding the delighted girls raising a beautiful baby boy, who can blame him for wanting to share in a small part of their bliss? Yes, theirs is an enviable, enviably settled life. And the girls will defend it with every tool at their disposal.
“Absolutely wicked.”
—Armistead Maupin
“Of all the writers of suspense novels, John Bowen is the most startlingly offbeat: politely he leads you down the garden path—look at the roses, he murmurs, the dismembered foot, the Victorian teahouse which contains . . . satisfying horror!”
—Gore Vidal
“The trappings of this sly little novel are like the crumbs leading Hansel and Gretel to gingerbread danger. To begin with, there's the intentionally coy title . . . Next comes the Edward Gorey jacket illustration . . . a clear signal, of course, that genteel, if peculiar, mayhem is in store . . . [For] people who like Myra Breckinridge as well as Miss Marple; fans of Beryl Bainbridge, Russell Greenan and Patricia Highsmith; those who feel Barbara Pym-ish on some days and Stephen King-ish on others . . . The novel charms us as only certain tales ‘of village life’ can.”
—Michele Slung, The Washington Post
“The reissued paperback of this cozy, pitch-black comedy sports the same Edward Gorey illustration that decorated the original hardcover when it was published in 1986. It’s perfect: deadpan, sly, and threatening, just like this very funny, very weird novel . . . I’m sure I’m not the only reader who thought of this book as his own secret, to be recommended only to the most unusual of friends, but now it’s back in the world and will hopefully garner the cult audience it deserves.”
—Dan Kois, Slate, The 10 Best Literary Rediscoveries of 2023
“An unqualified delight . . . Bowen rates superlatives for his alternately moving, frightening, hilarious novel and—above all—for the unsuspected, ultimate surprise.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This is a charming little novel about two women who share a home, a garden, and later, a baby. What happens when the accidental father returns? Fans of Patricia Highsmith and Edward Gorey (whose delightful designs adorn the cover) should like The Girls.”
—San Francisco Bay Times
ISBN: 9781946022707
Dimensions: 215mm x 127mm x 20mm
Weight: 362g
240 pages