Review of Wild Girls: A Novel

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Recommended: Cultural norms and stereotypes about women in society

Review of Wild Girls: A Novel Beautiful mountains, trees in abundance, wildlife everywhere, and girls who can change in a moment to become supernatural killers and fire starters. Not exactly the first thoughts that spring to one’s mind when thinking about Appalachia, yet these are the tenets that Mary Stuart Atwell bases her book Wild Girls: A Novel around. When reading the book jacket, the summary leads one to surmise the novel would be a thriller that combines Appalachian heritage with the rich folklore of the region to make a page turning thriller. Sadly this is not the case. With characters that generally lack depth and a story line that is best described as disjointed and unrealized, the novel reads more like a bad story from the young adult genre. The only real saving grace for this story is Atwell’s use of the physical traits of the Appalachian area as a background in which to build the story. The book is written in first person, the narrator being young Kate Riordan from the town Swan River, somewhere in North Carolina’s Appalachian region. She has grown up fearing that she would one day become what the locals call a “wild girl.” The wild girls are what legends are made of – seemingly normal girls from local families that turn murderous and flammable with no warning. No one in the town knows what makes a girl go wild and torch everything around her and kill those she is most close to. Turning into one of these girls is Kate’s worst nightmare and she lives her life in fear of this happening. The book follows Kate and her affluent friend .Willow from the rich section of town to boarding school - which also happens to be in the town. Though the girls start out as friends the story follows their friendship as t... ... middle of paper ... ...Mary Stuart Atwell. 17 Nov 2012. 18 Jan 2014. . Kovarik, Bill. The Formidable, Fearless, and Fantastic Women of Appalachia. Feb/Mar 2011. 18 Jan 2014. . Oakdale Christian Academy. 2014. Web. 18 Jan 2014. . Thomas, Lee. Girl Fear: An Interview with Mary Stuart Atwell. 22 Oct 2012. Web. 18 Jan 2014. . Zhang, Zhiwei Ph.D.,Alycia Infante, M.P.A.,Michael Meit, M.A., M.P.H., Ned English, M.S. An Analysis of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disparities & Access to Treatment Services in the Appalachian Region. Aug 2008. Web. 18 Jan 2014. .

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