The Boston Girl: A Novel

De: Anita Diamant

Narrado por: Linda Lavin

2016 Audie Award Finalist for Best Female Narrator

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Red Tent and Day After Night, comes an unforgettable coming-of-age novel about family ties and values, friendship and feminism told through the eyes of young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early 20th century.

Addie Baum is "The Boston Girl", born in 1900 to immigrant parents who were unprepared for and suspicious of America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie's intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can’t imagine - a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture, and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love.

Eighty-five-year-old Addie tells the story of her life to her 22-year-old granddaughter, who has asked her "How did you get to be the woman you are today?" She begins in 1915, the year she found her voice and made friends who would help shape the course of her life. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, Addie recalls her adventures with compassion for the naïve girl she was and a wicked sense of humor.

Written with the same attention to historical detail and emotional resonance that made Anita Diamant’s previous novels best sellers, The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman's complicated life in 20th-century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world.

©2014 Anita Diamant. All rights reserved. (P)2014 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Excellent Performance!

This story draws one into the life of a turn of the century Boston young woman, born into a Jewish family, a girl whose life is filled with joy, loss, deep friendships, and love. The story is wonderful, but honestly, Linda Lavin’s performance brings such texture and authenticity! It was a delightful journey to another era and culture!

Heartwarming!

This book made me laugh, cry, feel like everything and nothing has changed in the intimate world of women when it comes to love, family, aging, rights, hopes, heartbreak, dreams and best friends. I was in it from the start. Loved everything about Linda Lavin’s narration and Anita Diamant’s tenderness and extreme honesty with delicate and sometimes atrocious subjects. I feel related to everyone in this novel and I’m not even Jewish!

Great except the gratuitous remarks

Why do people who consider themselves “progressives” continue to offend total strangers with politics that have no real place in what they are writing about? It is true that the main character and her husband pursued careers in social work and public interest law. The mere mention of what they did and how they pursued it was enough and totally character driven. There was no reason to tweak readers who are more conservative. This explains a lot about why there is so little harmony in our society.

Welcome to the past

This reading by Linda Lavin was flawless. She drew me in and I was part of the story. I wish I had spent more time asking questions and just listening to my Italian grandma. I’m sure the stories would parallel each other.

not great...not bad...

sweet story...immigrant history...finding one's place, one's people, one's self. not an exciting ride. meh...reader is famous actress, but the ny came through her attempted Boston accent.

Nothing Special

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The story is fairly boring and predictable. There is nothing special about it. There are so many other stories in this genre that are much more interesting and exciting. With all that said, this story is nice enough.

Would you ever listen to anything by Anita Diamant again?

Yes, if the story were better.

What three words best describe Linda Lavin’s performance?

"Alice", Annoying, "Alice"! Her voice is just TOO distinctive and I can't believe the character because all I can think of is Linda Lavin. It's not her fault. I just find it difficult to for characters to be credible when the voice is SO recognizable.

Could you see The Boston Girl: A Novel being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

YES... I would rather see "unknowns" in the roles.

The Boston Girl

Simply charming and delightful narration. loved the family connection and heritage of the immigrant family.

What a warm and wonderful book!

Linda Lavin made Ada come to life letting us see her struggle and joys and how many of them are universal regardless of the time or culture of the woman.

Boston Girl Review

The story was interesting enough. It kept my attention and I looked forward to listening. But there aren't enough good things to say about Linda Lavin's narration. She made the story for me. Some books are better listened to and this is one.

Couldn’t listen anymore

I tried but I just couldn’t listen to the narrator anymore. I wasn’t a fan when she was on tv and had the same reaction to her narration. I’m sure for some she was perfect for this story.