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Title: Girls of Tender Age: A Memoir
ISBN: B0013A05SS
Author:
Mary-Ann Tirone Smith
Publicate Date: 2005-12-20
Publish: 2005-12-20
List Price: $24.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.12
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $6.86
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| Customer Review: |
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1: The memoir part? Interesting. The murder? Not so much.
I enjoy reading memoirs- idk why, I just do. So, at the first chance I read Girls of Tender Age. The first half of the book was a memoir of Tirone-Smith's childhood in a silent house- her older brother, Tyler,was autistic and could not stand noise of any kind- laughing, crying, and dog barking, to name a few. If Tyler heard such noises, he would knaw at his arm. We also are told of Tirone-Smith's family history, which is quite interesting, as well as a background of a killer. The second half consists of Tirone-Smith's attempt to recall, make sense of, and write about a murder that occured when Tirone-Smith was 10. Her classmate, Irene, was strangled to death with her own scarf. Despite what the bookcover says, Irene is not Tirone-Smith's neighbor or even friend. She was only a quiet classmate, and the book falls apart after her murder. I was disapointed, because up to that point I had been throughly enjoying it. It became quite uncomprehensible.
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2: Loss of innocence
No one locked their doors. Few mothers drove cars. Kids walked to school, church, and the neighborhood grocery, and played under street lights at dusk. On the surface, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith's 1950's childhood was idyllic. But scratch that surface, and it quickly becomes apparent that nothing could be further from the truth. First, there was her remote mother, always on the verge of the then fashionable nervous breakdown. Then, her older brother, a manipulative, tyrannical child who never received an education or treatment because no one knew quite what was wrong with him. Mary Ann's first ten years were spent doing normal childhood activities but walking on eggshells and suppressing her own needs at home. Her description of American culture in that post war era are priceless, and she does it with humor, touches of sarcasm, and dead-on accuracy.
Then, all at once. on the day of the 5th grade field trip to the electric company, a classmate of Mary-Ann is brutally murdered by a pedophile. True to the times, no one discusses the tragedy, and the kids are left to wonder about every facet of that terrifying crime. And to cope with its psychological consequences entirely on their own.
Ms Tirone Smith wrote this memoir as a memorial to her friend, having summoned the courage to face the grief and the issues she had buried for decades. She traces the course of the apprehension, trial, and punishment of the killer in clinical detail. And she has succeeded nobly, writing with grace and distinction. Readers of Girls of Tender Age will long remember theheartbreaking story of little Irene with the "Loretta Young eyes."
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3: good read
just finished this book. i liked it very much. it was touching, funny, sad, tragic and a lot more. Well written. would recommend it.
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4: Girls of Tender Age
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even though it was a very sad but true story it was choreographed perfectly. I couldn't put it down. Having grown up in Hartford, Ct. I was very familiar with the setting of the book. It enabled me to really place myself in their footsteps and know the surroundings, without trying to create a picture them in my mind.
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5: Very interesting
I had a hard time putting this book down. I was sorry when the book ended. Mary-Ann developed all the people in her book very well that you felt by reading it they were part of your own family..and if not family member someone that that you knew a lot about. I thought this book was very good on many levels. Thank you for writing such a powerful memoir. Barb :)
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