THE GIRLS OF HUNTINGTON HOUSE

by Blossom Elfman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 14, 1972

Blossom Elfman has taught in several schools for unmarried mothers who no doubt were just like these girls who appear here in their curlers or nightgowns which have reached the limits of their endurance -- shapelessly slumped over their spherical middles. They might be smoking pot or eating Argo starch. Or collecting fingernail polish. Or just fantasizing. Ms. Elfman comes to this House of Tomorrow as an English teacher and she's full of notions which have everything to do with literature. But as J., whom she consults nightly on the telephone, says ""If life were only written in iambic pentameter, you'd have it made."" She's going to teach logical paragraphs and Julius Caesar -- ""With all that time on their hands, they'll be delighted to do Julius Caesar"" although barren Calpurnia presents an additional difficulty. Actually they're not interested in anything until they hit The Scarlet Letter (""Does it have a happy ending?"") when they really relate almost as fully as to the egg experiment in science. As time passes, she forgets about teaching and is busy learning, particularly from Sara who said to her at the start: ""Your heart is shut. Think about it."" Sara is always dreaming about the boy in the VW with LOVE painted on the back of it -- he'll come for her, won't he? and then there's Baby, only 13, who really had wanted a Dalmatian puppy; and Gall who had once read Baudelaire in the original until they gave her too much electro-shock so she forgets things; or Cookie -- ""Why can't we have a spelling test? Instead of all those problems?"" What an appealing book to anticipate -- full of sadness and humor and newborn innocence and unfiltered reality. Think about it, with LOVE.

Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION