Don't judge a book by its cover. No, really. Under normal circumstances, I would not have considered Julianna Baggot's Girl Talk an acceptable reading selection, simply on account of its bright pink cover.
Blame it on anything from curiosity to lack of judgement - whatever the reason, I chose to look beyond the hideously pink book cover. Inside, I discovered an ironic, attentive, and comic examination of a mother-daughter relationship that forever changes one fateful summer in 1985.
Lissy Jablonski, an advertising executive in Manhattan, is fast approaching 30 when she finds herself in the embarrassing predicament of carrying the child of her married ex-lover. Unsure of what her plan of action should be, she instead reflects on years past, recalling the summer she was 15. After her father ran away with a young, red-haired bank teller, She and her mother, Dotty, escaped from their sleepy New Hampshire home to embark on a journey through Dotty's past.
Dotty names the summer of '85 "the summer that never happened" once her husband returns from his extra-marital escapade, but the period remains forever etched in Lissy's memory. It was the summer her mother revealed startling secrets. As Lissy finds herself repeating many of her mother's mistakes and fearing that her own unborn child will also follow in these footsteps, she must come to terms with the lessons learned through years of "girl talk."
A quirky cast of characters saves Girl Talk from joining the ranks of other trite coming-of-age novels. As they travel from New Hampshire to Bayonne, New Jersey (where Dotty grew up), they encounter a Valium-addicted country club mother, a suspected mobster, a twitchy dog with a skin disorder, and a one-eyed Italian lover from Dotty's youth later revealed to be Lissy's real father. Lissy's adult life is likewise spotted with peculiar individuals ranging from Church Fiske, an old flame determined to trade his upper-class roots for the middle-class American dream, to her ex-roommate, a Korean stripper named Kitty Hawk.
The multitude of themes woven together by Baggot adds to the novel's uniqueness. Issues of ethnicity, fidelity, and social status are combined with the typical girl-grows-up story to create a complex novel that appeals to a varied audience. Baggot depicts the experiences of both mother and daughter during the crucial summer of 1985 in such a way that both older and younger women readers can relate.
Children often forget that their parents exist outside of their roles as mothers and fathers. Baggot gently and gracefully tackles this misconception through Dotty's memories. As she gradually reveals her intimate secrets to her young daughter and tells her various stories, Lissy realizes that her mother had a life of her own before Lissy was born. By reliving these memories of a painful childhood and lost love, Dotty and Lissy become more like equals. The mother-daughter relationship is strengthened as they both come to acknowledge each others' existence as individuals.
Girl Talk is successful because it is an eloquent blend of humor and suffering. Baggot adroitly sidesteps over-sentimentalizing through Lissy's often ironic and sarcastic interjections and observations about her mother and her memories. The effort is not strained or awkward, due in part to the realistic nature of Lissy's character. Because Baggot portrays her as an ordinary individual, her experience is convincing and endearing. Even those moments that seem less believable (like when Lissy, on a whim, loses her virginity to church in a swimming pool), inspire the reader to think "Yeah...I guess that could happen." While Girl Talk is just a novel, much of it strikingly mirrors many of life's idiosyncrasies.
Still, the novel is a far cry from universal - male readers will be hard-pressed to find something to relate to in Girl Talk. This notwithstanding, Baggot is a strong and insightful writer. The result a graceful, smart, and poignant novel. It is well worth the read, even if the book cover is bright pink.
