The Talk Funny Girl

Hi guys! I'm actually updating my blog! Whoot!
:)
So today I finished up a book I've been reading for a couple of days called The Talk Funny Girl by Roland Merullo. At first, I wasn't sure that I liked it. It was good, but it didn't have the WOW factor right away.
It starts out with an introduction by the narrator, a woman who grew up in the New Hampshire hills. She hints at being mistreated as a child and teenager, and how all negativity in every one's life is kept inside of themselves in a sort of museum that people pretend doesn't exist, but that she found a way to deal with those things. Then the book starts.

On the day that Marjorie Richards turns 17, her parents tell her that it was time to get a job. Right away, although this is a common and normal occurrence, you can tell that something's not quite right with her family. They talk in a sort of back-woods dialect that uses far too many prepositions and doesn't make much sense. (Which is where the title of the novel comes from). Later on in the book you find out that Marjorie and her parents belong to a very cultish church where the children are 'filled with sin' and must pay severe penance for it. It's all very scary, and the so called 'penance' that Marjorie has to pay is difficult to read about. She is starved, beaten, and doused with cold river water among other very traumatizing things. Apart from all of this, Marjorie is very intelligent even having been kept out of school until the age of 9, and seems to be very caring and sincere.

Reasonably enough, Marjorie is a little weary of adults. Not only is she mistreated by her parents and the congregation of their church, but while the story is taking place, there is a serial killer on the loose who preys on young girls who travel alone. Marjorie is constantly on edge and worried that someone will try to hurt her.

Early on in the story, Marjorie finds work with a man named Sands who is rebuilding a church and knows her (normal) aunt. She finds solace in the hard work and a friend in Sands. Their relationship is awkward because he is very shy and she has a difficulty expressing her emotions.

So, that should set up the novel pretty nice for you guys. It's very well worth reading. The novel shows that although terrible things happen TO you, they don't BECOME you. And the most beautiful things come out of dirt and neglect.

ANYWAY overall I'd give this book 9/10. I would give it a 10/10 but there was something slightly lacking in the characters, they weren't quite as dimensional as I would have liked. :)

THANKS FOR READING! Check this book out if you get the chance!