★ 02/23/2015
Actress Lavin, best known for her star role in the 1970s sitcom Alice, is an ideal narrator for Diamant’s portrait of Addie Baum, a turn-of-the-century girl born to immigrant parents in Boston. Set in the 1980s, the story is framed as an oral history in which Addie describes to her granddaughter her coming of age in the 1910s and 1920s. We journey through the immigrant experience, the joys of adolescent friendships and first romantic “assignations” (as Addie puts it), the sadness wrought by the 1918 influenza epidemic, and the struggles of pioneering women in the workplace. Lavin nails the notoriously difficult Boston accent as she brings Addie to life with marvelous wit and wisdom, showcasing the heroine’s innate playfulness as well as her gutsy perseverance. Lavin’s performance sparkles throughout. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect pairing of novel and narrator. A Scribner hardcover. (Dec.)

10/06/2014
Bestseller Diamant (The Red Tent) tells a gripping story of a young Jewish woman growing up in early-20th-century Boston. Addie Baum, an octogenarian grandmother in 1985, relates long-ago history to a beloved granddaughter, answering the question: “How did I get to be the woman I am today?” The answer: by living a fascinating life. First reminiscing about 1915 and the reading club she became a part of as a teenager, Addie, in a conversational tone, recounts the lifelong friendships that began at club meetings and days by the seaside at nearby Rockport. She tells movingly of the fatal effects of the flu, a relative’s suicide, the touchy subject of abortion and its aftermath, and even her own disastrous first date, which nearly ended in rape. Ahead of her time, Addie also becomes a career woman, working as a newspaper typist who stands up for her beliefs at all costs. This is a stunning look into the past with a plucky heroine readers will cheer for. (Dec.)

Engaging… interesting, informative, and a good read.

“This compelling new novel by the author of the book club favorite The Red Tent (1997) also celebrates a woman’s story.

An exploration of the immigrant experience, love,marriage and friendship, plus many significant world events, including World War I and II, Prohibition, the Spanish flu epidemic, civil rights and the sexual revolution. Through it all, family and friendship remain resilient.

Anita Diamant’s The Boston Girl introduces[a] woman of substance…[who] relates how growing up in a time of gender inequality, strict family expectations, and a widening generation gap of social values made her a successful person.

"A beautiful novel that captures yourheart."

Diamant infuses [The Boston Girl] with humor and optimism, illuminating a wrenching period of American progress through the eyes of an irresistible heroine.

The Boston Girl convincingly traces the story of a scrappy, intelligent immigrant, who does more than merely survive the 20th century; she embraces it all—tragedies, joys, and the humdrum—with unflagging passion.

"A graphic, page-turning portrait of immigrant life in the early twentieth century...an inspirational read.

"Addie is…a good storyteller, and her descriptions of the human devastation of World War I and the flu epidemic … have an immediacy that blows away any historical dust."

The story of every immigrant and the difficulties of adapting to and accepting an unfamiliar culture."

Crisp, lively, clear, wry, affectionate, compulsively readable and very entertaining…The Boston Girl’s…[narrator] is supremely brave and bighearted — a marvelous role model no matter how you parse it.

Readers…will feel lucky that they read this richly textured all-American tale.

Ravishing. . . .whip-smart, warm, and full of feeling… deeply pleasurable. . . you can’t help wanting to linger.

Strong female ties form this story’s core. Through these relationships…Diamant brings to life a piece of feminism’s forgotten history [and reminds us] there will always be those who try to prescribe what you should be. Good friends are those who help you find out for yourself.

A vivid, affectionate portrait of American womanhood …Diamant has built her career on taking women seriously, and Addie Baum is another strong heroine with an irrepressible voice.

A vivid, affectionate portrait of American womanhood …Diamant has built her career on taking women seriously, and Addie Baum is another strong heroine with an irrepressible voice.

"Addie is…a good storyteller, and her descriptions of the human devastation of World War I and the flu epidemic … have an immediacy that blows away any historical dust."

The Boston Girl convincingly traces the story of a scrappy, intelligent immigrant, who does more than merely survive the 20th century; she embraces it all—tragedies, joys, and the humdrum—with unflagging passion.

Crisp, lively, clear, wry, affectionate, compulsively readable and very entertaining…The Boston Girl’s…[narrator] is supremely brave and bighearted — a marvelous role model no matter how you parse it.

"A graphic, page-turning portrait of immigrant life in the early twentieth century...an inspirational read.

06/01/2015
Linda Lavin—best known for the title role in the sitcom Alice—brings warmth and charm to this story of a Jewish girl's coming of age in early 20th-century America. Lavin's Boston accent and Yiddish pronunciation lend authenticity to this first-person bildungsroman. Diamant's (Day After Night) latest has Addie Baum recounting to a granddaughter her attempts to leave the physical and cultural claustrophobia of her parents' tenement world. While attending a book discussion group at a settlement house, Addie makes several friends and begins to achieve liberation as women are winning the right to vote and deciding their own direction in life. VERDICT Detailed and charming, this work is recommended for fans of Boston, American history, and Jewish immigrant tales. ["Readers interested in historical fiction will certainly enjoy this look at the era, with all its complications and wonders": LJ 10/15/14 review of the Scribner hc.]—David Faucheux, Lafayette, LA

Eighty-five-year-old Addie Baum’s granddaughter asks, “How did you get to be the woman you are today?” So begins a touching, unforgettable journey with a witty, charming guide. Narrator Linda Lavin brings heartfelt emotions, intelligence, and humor to Addie. Her performance is so truthful it feels as if Lavin is Addie Baum or Addie Baum is Lavin. Born here in 1900 of Russian immigrants, Addie experiences the conflict between the old and new worlds. Lavin is relaxed and mellow, chuckling when Addie finds something amusing—you can hear the impish smile on her face. As Addie’s life unfolds, Anita Diamant offers a well-researched, detailed look at women in the last century, and Lavin gets it just right. PS: I want Linda Lavin to be my BFF. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2016 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

2014-09-13
A Jewish woman born in 1900 tells her granddaughter about growing up in the 20th century. Diamant (Day After Night, 2009, etc.) establishes an agreeable, conversational tone in the opening paragraph: "I'm flattered you want to interview me," Addie says. "And when did I ever say no to my favorite grandchild?" It's 1985, and we quickly learn that Addie is the daughter of Russian immigrants, the only one born in the New World but not the only one to disappoint her bitter, carping mother by turning out to be "a real American." Older sister Betty horrifies their parents in 1910 by moving out to become a saleswoman at Filene's, and Addie flouts their limited expectations by attending high school and joining a reading club at the local settlement house. It's there she learns about Rockport Lodge and snatches a vacation at this "inn for young ladies in a seaside town north of Boston" with the help of the settlement house's nurturing Miss Chevalier. On her first trip to the lodge in 1916, Addie forms lifetime friendships with other striving working-class girls, particularly Filomena, whose affair with a married artist demonstrates the promises and perils of the new freedoms women are claiming. Addie's narrative rambles through the decades, spotlighting somewhat generic events: the deaths of two nephews in the 1918 flu epidemic, an unfulfilling romance with a traumatized World War I veteran, an encounter with a violent rumrunner. Her increasing aspirations take her from a secretarial job to a newspaper, where she climbs from typist to columnist with the help of other uppity women. True love arrives with labor lawyer Aaron Metsky, and a quick wrap-up of the years after 1931 tells us Addie found her vocation as a social worker and teacher. Enjoyable fiction with a detailed historical backdrop, this sweet tale is paradigmatic book club fare, but we expect something more substantial from the author of The Red Tent (1997) and The Last Days of Dogtown (2005).