The Girls from Ames: Book Review

I found The Girls from Ames, by Jeffrey Zaslow, at a goodwill store, like most of the books I've been reading recently. After reading the inside flap, I thought the book sounded interesting. Boy was I wrong. I had such trouble getting through the book, and I wanted to stop reading several times, but I'm not the type to not finish a book. I thought it might get better, it didn't.

Synopsis According to Barnes & Noble:

The instant New York Times bestseller, now in paperback: a moving tribute to female friendships, with the inspiring story of eleven girls and the ten women they became, from the coauthor of the million-copy bestseller The Last Lecture

As children, they formed a special bond, growing up in the small town of Ames, Iowa. As young women, they moved to eighth different states, yet they managed to maintain an extraordinary friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, the death of a child, and the mysterious death of the eleventh member of their group. Capturing their remarkable story, The Girls from Ames is a testament to the enduring, deep bonds of women as they experience life's challenges, and the power of friendship to overcome even the most daunting odds.

The girls, now in their forties, have a lifetime of memories in common, some evocative of their generation and some that will resonate with any woman who has ever had a friend. The Girls from Ames demonstrates how close female relationships can shape every aspect of women's lives-their sense of themselves, their choice of men, their need for validation, their relationships with their mothers, their dreams for their daughters-and reveals how such friendships thrive, rewarding those who have committed to them. With both universal events and deeply personal moments, it's a book that every woman will relate to and be inspired by.

My Review:

The book seemed extremely long, even in the first few pages, I felt as if it was dragging, and even though I started it, I didn't want to keep reading. It brought back memories of when I was in a larger group of friends, and I felt like an outsider... watching all of the smaller cliques within the group. However, I did feel that the book was very educational, not only in teaching about friendships, but also history, psychology, and geography lessons, as well as moral ones. I connected with Sheila when I read that she was going to school to be a Child Life Specialist, like myself, and became upset when I found out how her story ended. Christie, a daughter of one of the Ames girls, also had a heart-wrenching story that I found inspiring and really quite amazing. 

It amazed me to see how several moments in their lives were connected, and it really showed me that you really don't know where your life will take you or what you will go through. 

While the writing was spectacular, and why should it not be when Zaslow wrote a Wall Street Journal column, as well as other bestselling books. I just had a hard time getting through the book reading about the lives of other women, that I could rarely relate to. Quite frankly, it wasn't as riveting as I thought it would be. 

"Women's friendships are face to face, while men's friendships are side by side" (page 99).

My Rating: 2 Stars