Georgina Finds Herself - Book Review

Howdy-Doody Everybody!

 

Here is the book review for today and I hope you all enjoy it! :) I have come to appreciate this book and I hope you do too if you read it. Chao.....

 

"She was not able to explain exactly where the difference between her and them lay; but she simply knew by instinct that she could not get along with the majority of them very well. She was as capable of enjoying a spontaneous, simple good time as any girl of her age, but such good times were not the sort that were relished by the strangely mature, restless, sophisticated young sub-debutantes of Melbrook. Young as they were, they were already women in many ways - worldly women, greedy of admiration, competitive, thinking principally of the clothes they were to wear, and the attention they could win. Georgina had no keen desire either for their uncertain friendship or their easily excited, flippant, biting criticism." (Page 88-89, Chapter 6.)

This little paragraph here is from the book "Georgina Finds Herself" written by Shirley Watkins, and published in 1922.

The book is simple, precise, and has the irresistible writing style prevalent in the 20's, 30's, and 40's. When I first read this book, which is more or less a coming-of-age story about a young girl budding into the confusion all girls face at seventeen, I considered it mostly silliness and irrelevant to life. Yet over the course of seven years, I have discovered the reason why I enjoy Georgina's story so much, and why I am now re-reading it for possibly the fourth or fifth time.

Georgina Hamerton is seventeen, odd, shy, and considered "pretty enough, but can't dance for two cents" by the smart and preppy girls and boys of America at the time.

Mr. Leonard Hamerton, or more affectionately called by his niece as "Uncle Toto," has raised his brother's daughter in St. Quentin, France for as long as he can remember after her mother died. Yet, when a letter arrives from Georgina's father asking for her to return to live with him in America, Georgina and Uncle Toto must say goodbye to each other and cope with the changes now thrust into their previously happy lives.

Moving from the open countryside of France to the business of the wealthy suburbs of America puts shy and introverted Georgina in a rough spot. Especially as her father pushes her to "fit in" with the other youths of her social strata. This proves to be a daunting task, until she meets the melancholy and handsome Roddy Castleman, and life takes a wild spin as Georgina finds herself spending more time with the snobbish and stylish groups of young people instead of with the kind and sincere friends she chances upon after her move to Melbrook.

The rest of the story twists and turns as Georgina discovers who she is really and truly, and learns the true status of her relationship with her estranged father. And even dear Uncle Toto reappears for a special finale at the end of "Georgina Finds Herself."

I don't want to tell you how the story ends, or what becomes of Georgina and the handsome Roddy Castleman, but the aspects of the journey young "Georgie" takes in this book I have found incredibly relevant to my life now.

Every young girl is bound to lose herself trying to find herself. It is the trial of the young woman of today, and very often I find that this is true even for the woman of any age.

To keep to the point of this review, I recommend this book to the girl who enjoys the simple pleasures of life, but struggles discovering identity in oneself. I hope that this book proves itself to you as an enjoyable read, and I will leave you with something that Georgina discovers.

"She saw all this because she herself was no longer a self-conscious, brooding child, but almost a woman, with eyes grown apt at looking into other hearts besides her own." (Page 285, Chapter 17.)

All the best,

• Lindsay