Synopses & Reviews
Girly is Elizabeth Merrick's acclaimed first novel, an epic which investigates the intersection of women's spirituality and sexuality through the saga of the compelling, unique Hart family.
In Girly, Racinda Hart survives her fundamentalist Christian upbringing and the tumult of her wild and dangerous older sister, Ruth. When Ruth disappears, Racinda rejects the Jesus of her rural Pennsylvania childhood to rush headlong into her sexuality and ultimately the exploits of a California rock band. Unmoored, and encountering several captivating adventuresses along the way, Racinda must discover the truth about her mother's and her grandmother's lives, as well as her own.
From a goddess who keeps an eye out for Racinda, to Racinda herself, Girly's seven narrative voices form an intimate, lyrical journey into an irresistible world.
Review
"It's a thrill to discover a new writer like Elizabeth Merrick. Sharp, smart, and on the edge Girly breaks all of the rules, deliciously." Hannah Tinti, author of Animal Crackers and editor of One Story magazine
Review
"Girly is a darkly lyrical, emotionally potent exploration of characters living in the shadowy margins of American culture. Elizabeth Merrick has written an ambitious and moving first novel, an intimate family epic." Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and Election
Review
"Elizabeth Merrick masters a universe here, including the vast planets of girlhood, adolescence, daughter-, mother-, and sisterhood. Girly is a novel of great life and great pain. Merrick's characters and their voices sing and weave and dodge and ultimately embroider themselves on the reader's consciousness. To read Girly is to give yourself over to Racinda, Amandine, andRuth, and to revel and weep in their power. Don't miss this." Kathleen Hughes, author of Dear Mrs. Lindbergh
Review
"Girly is a novel that takes risks and breaks conventions in compelling ways. Merrick is a writer unafraid to venture into new territory and to bring us with her." Martha Witt, author of Broken as Things Are
Review
"Elizabeth Merrick unleashes the devil in herself as she immerses us in her characters' gothic Christian world. With ambition and sensitivity, she takes us intimately into their tangled and multilayered webs of condemnation, rivalry, insecurity, and grudges that will never die. Meanwhile, she offers hope and light telling the stories of young girls struggling for a voice in the midst of it all." Paula Kamen, author of Her Way: Young Women Remake the Sexual Revolution
Review
"With its shifting perspectives, stream-of-consciousness style, unflinching language, and leaps into the dreams and drug-induced nightmares of its protagonists, Girly's narrative style may be off-putting to readers of popular fiction." Library Jounral
About the Author
Elizabeth Merrick is the founder and director of the Grace Reading Series and editor of forthcoming Random House anthology This Is Not Chick Lit. She received a BA from Yale, an MFA from Cornell, and an MA in Creativity and Art Education from San Francisco State. Recent honors include fellowships from the Saltonstall Foundation, the Ragdale Foundation, and VCCA. She has taught at NYU and Cornell, and currently lives in New York where she works as a writing coach and runs a small writing school.