The Boston Girl

“As far as I can tell, common sense hasn’t been in fashion for a long time.” 

Boston Girl by Anita Diamant is transcript of a tape-recorded monologue delivered by an 85-year-old woman called Addie Baum. She was asked by her granddaughter how she got to be the person she is today. Addie takes us back to 1990, the year she was born.

Addie is the daughter of Jewish immigrants who settled down in Boston. She has two elder sisters, Betty and Celia. She is the first in the family to go to school. She learns how to use typewriting and takes Shakespeare classes. To escape her mother's suffocating behavior, She attends Saturday club where she meets women of other classes who introduce her to books, theater, games, and leisurely activities which were scandalous back then.

Her sister Celia commits suicide. She loses two of her nephews to Spanish flu. After initial debacles with men, she finds her "fella" in Aaron, a lawyer who believes in fighting for social causes. In a course of time she becomes a writer and subsequently starts teaching at Boston University.

Though not in a great detail The Boston Girl touches the event of immigration, women's suffrage, world war I and II, Spanish flu, great depression. It explores the cultural difference between immigrants and natives and how it affects the relationships. Addie's tumultuous relationship with her eternal unhappy mother who hates everything about America is quite engaging.

It is a memoir, an easy read. I would love to hear the story of my grandmother like this. Certainly it gave me an idea to ask about her childhood, adolescence, and the journey of life. Living almost a century is not an easy feast. I digress.

I finished it off in two days between tight schedule. Other than a few tragedies it is all hunky dory. I don't say it is an excellent piece of work, nonetheless a good read.

“Even a broken clock is right twice every day.”