My name is Emily, and I am a member of NoVa Lit Chicks and guest blogging for Debra for our May book meeting (very tardily, I might add – sorry). For May, we read my selection “Summer at Tiffany: A Memoir” by Marjorie Hart. This book has been on my to-read list for a year or so. I really enjoy books about strong female friendships as well was women striking out on their own so I was really attracted to the premise of two female friends spending the summer of ‘45 in New York City where they become the first women to work on the sales floor of Tiffany’s (yes, that Tiffany’s).
To be honest, I had somehow managed to overlook the whole “A Memoir” part of the title – so while expecting a fully fleshed out novel turned out to be more like air-brushed nostalgia. The author mentioned several times in author notes and an interview with her editor that she was inspired to record her story in book form for her children and grandchildren to enjoy - and this came through in the writing. You could almost hear the author say, “And I remember the time…” each time she embarked on a new story. While that doesn’t necessarily make it the most exciting book, it does lend the book a kind of familiar/comforting feeling – as if your own grandmother was telling you her story.
While I think most book members enjoyed this easy read, many had trouble fully engaging with the narrator in the book. Several members ended up expressing “wanting to know the full story” because it was clear that we were only getting the pretty half of the story. Many of us also wanted to know more about why the author made some of the decisions she made. For example, for almost two thirds of the book, the author worries about how she is going to tell her parents and friends that she is transferring schools and then suddenly in less than half a page she decides that she’s going to stay where she’s enrolled and that’s the last we hear about her school choice. As readers, we were left asking ourselves what just happened there.
The parts that most people liked were the ones that detailed actual historical events – like the soldiers returning to New York after the end of war in Europe, the V-J Day announcement in Times Square, and the day when a plane crashed into the Empire State Building. The author did a very good job of both describing her thoughts and feelings surrounding those events as well what was going on in the environment around her. In a way, these events were more relatable to us than her descriptions of the every day occurances.
I would say based on our discussion, most members felt neutral about this book. We could appreciate the book, but we kind of wanted more from it.
In June we will be reading the Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji, and Sara will lead the discussion at her home in Chantilly.
