The Girls

I read an excerpt of The Girls in The Age last weekend and immediately downloaded the audiobook. Unfortunately it wasn’t available for a few days, but when it reached my Audible account, I devoured it. I was not disappointed. <br /><br />This was a book about grief, relationships with parents, drug use and sex work. It’s also about memory, and how grief can play with memory. It detailed the aftermath of a tragic accident, where Chloe Higgins’ two younger sisters died in a car accident - her father was driving the car. Chloe was 17 then, and she writes about her life until 2019.<br /><br />The content was harrowing at times, and the writing was stunning. Some parts were very hard to listen to - but as Chloe has said in the media, and in her book, it’s important that the hard things are written about. <br /><br />Chloe observed the process of writing this book in the book, which I really liked - reflecting on how much she shared, and how much her editor and friends suggested she shared. She has a strict work ethic, really throwing herself into her writing. I feel she also used this book as part of her therapy, which is understandable given how much this accident changed her life. <br /><br />She was very honest about how the depictions of the unpleasant and perhaps unruly sides of herself are not the only sides of herself. I really enjoyed the diary entries and Facebook posts from her Dad and Mum respectively - it’s as much their story as it is Chloe’s. They are indeed the best parents - her Mum’s optimism, despite the enormous tragedy, was moving. <br /><br />The chapter where Chloe admitted that her first draft didn’t include much about The Girls - barely using their names throughout the book - was the most powerful for me. She included beautiful memories of her sisters, told by people who knew them. It centred them in the book for a good number of pages. I picked up that Chloe’s youngest sister was disabled, and she wrote about her disability in such a respectful way that never overshared. I really appreciated that. <br /><br />I found the timelines confusing at times - it switched between present and past a lot. I also felt like I needed to read something more uplifting afterward, as The Girls was so heavy. Go gently with this one, readers.<br /><br />What an amazing debut memoir. I can’t wait to read what Chloe writes next.

*<a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com">https://mrsbbookreviews.wordpress.com</a><br /><br />4.5 stars<br /><br />Grief is such a universal fact of life, but how we express and deal with it is very personalised. The Girls is an exploration of the individualised act of grief, in the face of a catastrophic event. The Girls utterly consumed me. I was struck by the pure honesty, fearlessness and poetic justice author Chloe Higgins conveys through her first book. Even if you haven’t been touched by an episode of loss or grief of the same magnitude as the author, The Girls represents a moving piece of literature.<br /><br />A tragic, fatal and unexplained accident forms the backbone of this book, penned by debut writer Chloe Higgins. The journey begins on the year 2005, when Chloe and her mother Rhonda make the fateful decision to stay home, while Chloe studied for upcoming high school exams. Chloe’s two younger sisters, Carlie and Lisa, accompany their father on a ski trip. On the way home from this trip, the car journey turns into a tragic scene. The car veers off the road, flips, and promptly bursts into flames, engulfing Chloe’s two sisters before they can be saved. Miraculously, Chloe’s father, who was at the wheel of the car, is pulled from the wreckage and survives the crash. The Girls considers the aftermath of this tragic event. It examines the fallout of this one life defining episode, it also looks at the individual act of grieving, and how this differs from person to person. The Girls considers memory, survivor’s guilt and self-destruction. This is a tender and heartfelt book, that will have you thinking very differently about the way in which we express and handle grief.<br /><br />A recent author in conversation event at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre in Western Australia put me in touch with The Girls, the first publication from Chloe Higgins. In fact, this locale has a strong bearing The Girls, Chloe Higgins was an emerging writing in residence at the centre, as indicated in the acknowledgements section of this book. To be honest, a grief based memoir is not my usual fare, but something about Chloe’s story spoke to my heart and I found myself completely in awe of this author’s story.<br /><br />Firstly, I was struck by the style of prose adopted by Higgins for her first book. It is well versed, poetic, measured, stark and bold. I think my list of descriptors could go on as I was completely impressed by The Girls. I am confident that Chloe Higgins is destined to write and I know that writing provides her with a sense of grounding. For Chloe, writing is her fuel, it is part of her daily ritual, along with exercise, sleep and travel. I felt inspired after reading this book and hearing Chloe Higgins speak to her audience in person.<br /><br />From The Girls, I was able to glean so much about the process and act of grief. This book challenged my preconceptions and experiences. Most of all, it reminds us that grief is really down to the person. How Chloe, her mother and father chose to confront the immense grief that they faced varied a great deal. In Chloe, we see a lost young soul, desperately gripping onto the fragments of life that she believes will help her understand her loss. Chloe explicitly highlights a no holds back style commentary on her struggles with mental health, her psychiatric incarceration, self-harm, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, sex work, promiscuity, hedonism, travel, rituals and formative relationships. On the other hand, Chloe’s mother is a very different soul, who expresses her grief in a contrasted way. On the other hand, Chloe’s father is utterly consumed with his grief, which is painstakingly revealed through the files of information and diary entries that he passed on to Chloe while she was writing this book. I walked away from reading these segments of the story with such a heavy heart, but hearing this side of the story was important.<br /><br />The structure of The Girls runs through Chloe Higgins’ life just before the crash, to the accident itself and the aftermath. The book also considers how it has impacted the author’s life right up until the book’s publication deadline, which was March 2019. The feel of this book is almost like a stream of consciousness, it is a constant flow of thoughts, ideas, expressions and recollections. A precursor to each new chapter, outlining Chloe’s age, the date and location Chloe is based at provides grounding for the reader. It helps to orientate you within Chloe’s often frantic experiences. For me, the part of the book that held the most meaning were the simple meditations on grief that Chloe gleans along the way. These poignant segments are like a guiding light, in the face of such incredible loss.<br /><br />The Girls is a symbolic meditation on the impact of one tragic day. Chloe Higgins opens up a vital conversation around the act of grief, feelings of guilt, the relationship breakdowns, the survival instinct, the impact of loss on the self, life choices and healing, in the face of emotional pain. The Girls is an unflinching account of immeasurable loss and it is an essential book that I recommend to all.<br /><br />**** 4.5 stars<br /><br />The Girls is book #131 of the 2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge

“And how hard will my mother’s heart break when people report back the things I have said about her?” (p294) — Chloe shares her concern but she need not worry. Chloe’s account is candid but her mother comes across as a shining light of strength. This was a turbulent read for me but the person I empathise and identify with the most is Chloe’s mother. <br /><br />Chloe’s mother’s diary entries on their trip to New York made me laugh (I too am geographically challenged). They show a strength of character; to move and grow beyond the boundaries of comfort zones. Chloe writes “Every couple of days she texts to ask if I’m still alive and I reply and tell her I am.” (p282). I can relate. It’s the same daily message I text to my son who lives overseas. Love :)<br /><br />The stand-out image for me is towards the end of the book when Chloe is watching a family home movie - <br /><br />“Carlie walks past, in the corner of the video. And then Lisa lets out a sad drawl ‘Ohhhhhhhhh,’ dropping her hand and pointing to the ground, where her sparkler now lies, spent. Our mother steps into the frame, ready with another already lit. Lisa beams again as she takes the new sparkler.” (p298). What a beautiful image: A mother that refuses to let the light go out. “Over and over, my mother’s high-pitched voice: ‘Write your name. Spin it around and write your name.’” This makes me cry. Beautiful!<br /><br />In the author’s note - “As with all memoir, the events in the preceding pages are not the only truth.” <br /><br />….and so it’s Chloe’s mother’s truth that I’d like to read next :)

This book was heartbreaking on so many levels. And Chloe Higgins was so brave for not holding back in sharing hers and her parents grief with us.

2.5 I’ve read many grief memoirs but never have I felt as voyeuristic as when reading The Girls. I think it’s because Higgins structures the book by starting with her two sisters dying in a car accident so the only place she has to go is a mostly chronological account of how this tragedy derailed her life. The other thing, and this feels so harsh given how deeply personal the book is, is that it lacks the craft that make other grief memoirs works of art and not simply writing as therapy. Incredibly accomplished writers such as Fiona Wright, Lee Koffman and Felicity Castagna wax lyrical about it so perhaps I am completely wrong...

Sometimes you devour the pages of a book and think, “what a nice story”. After reading The Girls, I felt like I had devoured Higgins’ soul. Don’t read this book on a train, unless you’re comfortable sobbing. A powerful first book that made me reflect on those complex, tumultuous and beautiful relationships we have with parents and lovers.

I really wanted to love this book but found the author annoying and repetitive. There is no doubt the story is sad, painful and horrific but her journey through grief was annoying. Although I can’t imagine the horror of the situation, I found it difficult to like the author and her writing was too pedestrian and unemotional.

Hard to listen to at times. So sad.<br /><br />A sensitive portrayal of loss and grief. <br /><br />A well written, brave and honest memoir. <br />

Crap book. Lauded by reviews probably too frightened to say a memoir regarding confronting mental health issues by a fledgling author is crap.<br /><br />Put your big boys pants on and admit it. <br /><br />Mental Health and the journey she has been on is and will continue to be tough.<br /><br />It’s like reading a reconstructed diary.<br /><br />I checked the Coronial reports. <br /><br />He fell asleep driving...

I received a review copy of this book out of the blue, so even though it is not something I would normally pick up, I decided to give it a go. Given the nature of the book, it is, in some ways, difficult to review, but I will do my best to share my thoughts. From the point of view of the prose, it was very readable and generally well written. However, it simply never grabbed me and, at the risk of sounding callous, I didn't 'care'. While I will gladly read biographies of long-dead figures, memoirs and autobiographies from living people have never held any interest for me, and I think that was the main problem here--nothing wrong with the book per se, but it wasn't my cup of tea. That said, I am sure many readers will adore the work and will find something in it that resonates with them, especially if they have known similar trauma. As such I am giving The Girls three stars. It was a well-written piece, just not something that appealed to me personally.<br /><br />I received this book as a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.