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A review by stenaros
Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck
5.0
When this arrived at the library for me I had a moment of puzzlement as to why I would have requested this particular novel. The cover is a bit off-putting. But two paragraphs in, I was hooked. Goodreads tells me I heard about this book from Deborah. Thank goodness she is my friend on Goodreads. Now I'm curious as to what she had to say about it, but I'm going to write my review before I read hers.
The voices in this story make this book. Particularly, the voice of the brother, Phillip, aged fifteen, who begins our adventure. Listen to this quote, where Phillip is meeting a famous middle-aged movie star for the first time. Polly is his 17 year-old sister.
I could read an entire book with just Phillip talking, but we leave him soon after his three sisters become "it" girls--just three more girls famous at first for their red hair and their beauty, then famous for being famous. After we hear Phillip's view, then each of the sisters tells us a little more of the story, from their point of view. What happens to the four of them is fascinating, funny and shocking. I couldn't help thinking of real-life "it" girls and wondering how many of them had similar experiences.
I would love to live in a society where sensible adults never let young people be pimped out to the the media like this, but in this book, it is the adults who do the dealing of flesh--and reap the rewards each time the girls are sold.
ps. A book with La Aura as a main character? Also something I would read. Please Ms. Rebeck, please?
The voices in this story make this book. Particularly, the voice of the brother, Phillip, aged fifteen, who begins our adventure. Listen to this quote, where Phillip is meeting a famous middle-aged movie star for the first time. Polly is his 17 year-old sister.
"...looking like Henry the Eighth with one arm stretched out along the back of the banquette and the other arm around Polly, his hand discreetly stuck down the back of her pants. It was spooky, really; he looked just like he looks in the movies, where he's always waving a giant weapon, and he looked really short. That's something I never considered, when I thought about meeting movie stars. Usually, when you see them? They're like four stories tall, on some giant movie screen somewhere. But when you meet them in person? They're actually just sort of people-sized. Which makes the whole experience kind of surreal, if you haven't thought about things like that ahead of time. Plus, if the guy has his hand down your sister's pants, he looks significantly less like a movie star, and more like your average asshole."
I could read an entire book with just Phillip talking, but we leave him soon after his three sisters become "it" girls--just three more girls famous at first for their red hair and their beauty, then famous for being famous. After we hear Phillip's view, then each of the sisters tells us a little more of the story, from their point of view. What happens to the four of them is fascinating, funny and shocking. I couldn't help thinking of real-life "it" girls and wondering how many of them had similar experiences.
I would love to live in a society where sensible adults never let young people be pimped out to the the media like this, but in this book, it is the adults who do the dealing of flesh--and reap the rewards each time the girls are sold.
ps. A book with La Aura as a main character? Also something I would read. Please Ms. Rebeck, please?