The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore

 Saturday, Mar. 2, 2024--San Antonio

The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore was a BBC Top Book of the Year in 2023.  It is the story of a family living on the Isle of Wight in southern England.  The mother Margo is a "force of nature" type of person.  She ran away from home at age 16 with Richard, a poet in his 20s.  Life was exciting, but the pressures of keeping up with it led to Richard's alcoholism becoming unmanageable.  So after 10 years of marriage, he left when their 3rd daughter was only about 4 years of age.  His leaving sent Margo into months of depression during which she drank and stayed in her room.  The oldest daughter, only 8 or 9 years old, had to learn to cook and to accept the responsibility for taking care of her two sisters (with some help from Margo's sister living nearby and a housekeeper).  Most of the book takes place much later in time when the two oldest girls are in their 30s and the youngest is in her late 20s.  It's a time when Margo still tries to arrange and control their lives and the girls are rebelling in different ways and for different reasons.  Margo has never allowed any discussion of Richard since he left the family and the youngest, who cannot remember any of the time he was with them, is increasingly interested in knowing her dad and understanding what happened.  It's an interesting story.  I gave it 4 stars out of 5.