Modern Girls
Jennifer S. Brown, 2016
Penguin Publishing
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780451477125
Summary
How was it that out of all the girls in the office, I was the one to find myself in this situation? This didn’t happen to nice Jewish girls.
In 1935, Dottie Krasinsky is the epitome of the modern girl. A bookkeeper in Midtown Manhattan, Dottie steals kisses from her steady beau, meets her girlfriends for drinks, and eyes the latest fashions.
Yet at heart, she is a dutiful daughter, living with her Yiddish-speaking parents on the Lower East Side. So when, after a single careless night, she finds herself in a family way by a charismatic but unsuitable man, she is desperate: unwed, unsure, and running out of options.
After the birth of five children—and twenty years as a housewife—Dottie’s immigrant mother, Rose, is itching to return to the social activism she embraced as a young woman. With strikes and breadlines at home and National Socialism rising in Europe, there is much more important work to do than cooking and cleaning.
So when she realizes that she, too, is pregnant, she struggles to reconcile her longings with her faith.
As mother and daughter wrestle with unthinkable choices, they are forced to confront their beliefs, the changing world, and the fact that their lives will never again be the same. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Raised—Miami Beach, Florida, USA
• Education—B.F.A., New York University; M.F.A., University of Washington
• Currently—lives near Boston, Massachusetts
Jennifer S. Brown has published fiction and creative nonfiction in Fiction Southeast, The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Southeast Review, Sierra Nevada Review, and Bellevue Literary Review, among other places. Her essay “The Codeine of Jordan” was selected as a notable essay in The Best American Travel Writing in 2012. She holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Washington. (From the publisher and the author's website.)
Book Reviews
I enjoyed Jennifer S. Brown’s Modern Girls from the first page, but at the halfway point I became a reader obsessed. This 1920s historical novel explores the give and take of motherhood, women’s rights, and the weight of family traditions. When a single careless night leaves Dottie pregnant by a man other than her boyfriend she wrestles to find an outcome that will maintain her reputation without affronting her faith.… Brown writes with a smart yet intimate tone. One of many gems I highlighted reads, “It was possible, I found, to both mourn a loss and yet be grateful it happened.” READ MORE …
Abby Fabiaschi - LitLovers
The novel is not only a nostalgic portrait of an earlier era but a feminist reminder of how limited and circumscribed were women’s opportunities and choices just a few generations ago.… Satisfying both emotionally and narratively.… Its suspenseful plot and warm emotional tone should appeal to a wide audience.
New York Journal of Books
With its compelling storyline, a well-researched historical setting, protagonists who are authentic and strong, and beautifully written prose, Modern Girls is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books of 2016 to date. The story drew me in from the very opening pages, and I was reluctant to let go of the characters once I finished the book. I predict it has a bright future as a book club favorite.
Historical Novels Review
A moving debut, portraying the sacrifices a mother and daughter make in order to save face for their family.
Booklist
In 1935, as women in America strive for the rights to work, to vote, and to lead independent lives, a Jewish mother and daughter face unwanted pregnancies.… A cleareyed view of the sharp, difficult choices facing women on the cusp of equality.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Modern Girls focuses on a Jewish immigrant family during the Depression. Do you think that Rose and Dottie could as easily have been Irish or Italian or another immigrant ethnicity? Why or why not? If the story were set today, with a modern-day immigrant family, might the story be different?
2. Dottie’s friends have different ideas on what marriage should be. What did marriage mean in 1935? How has the definition of marriage changed?
3. Traditions—keeping kosher, lighting Shabbes candles, having a chuppah at her wedding—are important to Dottie, and she can’t imagine her life without them. What traditions would you have a hard time breaking? Do you believe in the values behind those traditions or do you maintain them simply because that’s what your family has always done?
4. Both Rose and Dottie have definitive ideas about what makes them modern women. Do you identify with their conceptions of the modern? Does holding on to tradition and “old-world” ideas make them less modern in your eyes?
5. Rose thinks Willie is a fool for wanting to travel to Europe at such a dangerous time; Edith admires him for his commitment to journalism and politics. What do you think of his decision? If you were Dottie, would you have gone with him?
6. Eugene spent a year and a half of his life with his aunt, and Rose feels that Eugene is a stranger to her. With Dottie gone, how do you think Rose and Eugene will fare? What do you see for Eugene’s future?
7. Many themes are touched on in this novel: motherhood, family, assimilation, immigration, the rights of women and workers. Which most resonated with you?
8. Rose changed her name and her age as she shed her past life to become an American. If you could start anew, what would you change?
9. How much does the place you live affect how you think of yourself? Are place and identity linked?
10. Dottie’s future is uncertain when the story concludes. What do you think will come of her marriage? What will her future bring?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)