Review: The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey
“How best to honor those we’ve lost? By not being afraid to live life and take risks, by daring to open your heart to possibility. By taking a chance to begin. Again.”
The Basics
Title: The Beantown Girls
Author: Jane Healey
Published: 2019
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 347
Format: Paperback
Genres: Fiction — Historical fiction, World War II fiction, Romance, Historical romance, World War II romance
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Book Synopsis
Set in 1944, The Beantown Girls follows Fiona Denning and her two friends, Viviana and Dottie, as they leave behind their hometown of Boston to volunteer overseas as Red Cross Clubmobile girls. For Fiona, this provides her with the opportunity to learn the fate of her fiancé, who went missing in action while fighting in Germany, and for Viviana and Dottie, it’s a chance for adventure. Unbeknownst to any of them though, their time as Clubmobile girls will alter the course of their lives.
My Review & Overall Thoughts
TLDR: A book plagued by stilted dialogue, forgettable characters, and a snail-paced plot.
Meh. If I had to describe The Beantown Girls in one word, that would be it. From a slow pace to a predictable plot and lackluster characters, this book is mediocre across the board.
The characters are particularly troublesome. Fiona, Viviana, and Dottie all feel flat and unlifelike. This is partly due to a lack of information about each character’s personal history (only a basic overview of the characters’ pre-war lives is provided). It would have been nice to dive a bit deeper into each character, especially Viviana and Dottie. Those two come across as caricatures: the glasses-wearing, quiet friend and the beautiful, girly-girl friend. Another issue with the characters is their dialogue, which sounds unnatural. Their conversations often feel forced, and the way that they talk to one another, notably the words that they choose, bears no resemblance to how people actually talk.
Unfortunately, the story does not make up for the subpar characters and dialogue: it too falls flat. The plot is very slow moving, with the pace not picking up until roughly halfway through the book. It’s also quite predictable, which does away with any sense of intrigue. The book’s portrayal of World War II is another mark against it, as it is a bit too cheery and overly positive. Sure, the book attempts some serious scenes involving death, but they are poorly executed and fail to arouse any emotion.
Lastly, the writing feels somewhat amateurish. In addition to the clumsy dialogue, the writing is not that engaging. In fact, I considered shelving the book at one point, because I was becoming bored with the story.
The good
It was interesting to learn more about the Red Cross Clubmobile program. I had previously heard about it, but my knowledge of it was rather limited. You can tell that the author spent some time researching the program in order to accurately describe what the daily responsibilities of the Clubmobile girls were like.
Overall
I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to read The Beantown Girls, but if you find yourself in possession of a copy, it will pass the time (but not as quickly as you might hope).
Have you read The Beantown Girls? If so, let me know what you thought of the book in the comments section below.
