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    The Boston Girl: A Novel
    The Boston Girl: A Novel
    The Boston Girl: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Boston Girl: A Novel

    Written by Anita Diamant

    Narrated by Linda Lavin

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    2016 Audie Award Finalist for Best Female Narrator

    New York Times bestseller!

    An unforgettable novel about a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century, told “with humor and optimism…through the eyes of an irresistible heroine” (People)—from the acclaimed author of The Red Tent.

    Anita Diamant’s “vivid, affectionate portrait of American womanhood” (Los Angeles Times), follows the life of one woman, Addie Baum, through a period of dramatic change. Addie is The Boston Girl, the spirited daughter of an immigrant Jewish family, born in 1900 to parents who were unprepared for America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End of Boston, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie’s intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can’t imagine—a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture, and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, to finding the love of her life, eighty-five-year-old Addie recounts her adventures with humor and compassion for the naïve girl she once was.

    Written with the same attention to historical detail and emotional resonance that made Diamant’s previous novels bestsellers, The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman’s complicated life in twentieth century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world. “Diamant brings to life a piece of feminism’s forgotten history” (Good Housekeeping) in this “inspirational…page-turning portrait of immigrant life in the early twentieth century” (Booklist).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateDec 9, 2014
    ISBN9781442380370
    Author

    Anita Diamant

    Anita Diamant is the bestselling author of the novels The Boston Girl, The Red Tent, Good Harbor, The Last Days of Dogtown, and Day After Night, and the collection of essays, Pitching My Tent. An award-winning journalist whose work appeared in The Boston Globe Magazine and Parenting, and many others, she is the author of six nonfiction guides to contemporary Jewish life. She lives in Massachusetts. Visit her website at AnitaDiamant.com.

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    Reviews for The Boston Girl

    4.5/5

    183 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      this was an awsum journey, a humble clear voice emoting my body with the theme felt angry, jealous, pity, strong, weak, rich & poor all while listening. the best part is you can do multitasking while going through a book. this is best innovative way of putting away books you never had time for

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Loved this book and Linda Levin was great. Thank you both
    • 5/5
      Fabulous read and magnificent narrator, Linda Lavin. Highly recommend it!
    • 5/5
      Such a Great story and excellent reading by Linda Lavin!
    • 5/5
      A wonderful story that makes you laugh and cry. I highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      My grandparents were Italian immigrants who settled in Boston. They lived in the North End. Bought houses that were turned into multi-family dwellings for more immigrants. My father and his siblings were born in Dorchester and later moved to Roxbury in the 1920s-1930s. Ms. Diamant's book gave me a better understanding of the area and conditions my family lived in, the need for the children to leave school before graduating so they could help support the family.
    • 5/5
      What a lovely calming book. Like listening to the grandmother you wish you had or reminding you of the one you did have
    • 5/5
      I adored this story. So beautifully written, it transports the reader to a different time. A beautiful, rich coming-of-age story set in Boston between 1915 and 1985 about Addie Baum, a first generation Jewish girl and her family, told as a narrative by the protagonist to her granddaughter. I just loved the rich storytelling and how each character came to life. The narrator on the Audio version sounds just like a grandmother recounting stories of her life, which made it so much more magical and transported you to a bygone era. I want to listen to it again just so I can drink in the rich tapestry of Addie Baum's life. Loved every moment of it ❤
    • 1/5
      gud for nothing it is very slow
      but it's nice
    • 5/5
      An incredibly heartwarming and descriptive account of a young Jewish girl in early 20th century Boston. Heartbreaking at times and so very witty at other times.
      Linda Lavin’s narration was absolutely phenomenal.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book a lot. The narrator was so good, like actually listening to someone tell their story. I listened with great interest, looking forward to more. Would highly recommend.
    • 5/5
      I DIDN’T WANT IT TO END!!! I would give it 20 * if I could!!!!
      This is a wonderful, beautifully written story. It just pulls you in! What makes it even better… Miss Lavin’s narration!!! Oh my goodness, her soft, gentle sweet voice brings it all to life. Loved her Boston and Jewish accents, subtle but perfection! I did not want this story to end!!! Miss Lavin should narrate EVERY BOOK!
      Thank you soooo much Miss Diamant, this one will stay with me for sometime.
    • 5/5
      There are no plot twists in this story. There is no build up of suspense followed by a major event and then sweet relief. In fact - and to steal from Seinfeld - it’s a story about nothing.

      But, not really nothing. And this story isn’t a story. Rather, it’s an elderly Jewish woman re-telling her successful but overall unremarkable life to her grandchild. I truly came to love Ada - and the people that Ada loves - and I wish she was my grandma.

      I wouldn’t even call this book overly sentimental. It’s perfectly balanced, with just the right mix of character development and plot movement to keep the story moving along.

      I almost never give out five star reviews, and four star ratings are relatively rare as well. Also, I have listened to or read well over a thousand books over the past few years, so it takes a lot for a book to get this rating from me.

      Finally, the narration is superb, with just enough of a “Jewish Bubby” accent to draw you in, but not enough to be annoying or caricaturish.
    • 5/5
      Such a wonderful story. I felt like Addie remembering my struggles with my own mother.
    • 3/5
      I liked it, I simply didn’t love it and being highly rated I was disappointed. I think I did not believe Addys life to be extraordinary. True, an immigrant who achieved a Masters Degree, published a book and taught grad students is fantastic but not super unusual. I think also the book was too front loaded. The hard times got attention,but when life turned around it got little time. She was a super lady. I would have loved having her as my grandmother, but there are many outstanding women.
    • 5/5
      I didn’t fall in love with the book right away, but after 40% in, I couldn’t put it down. It was like listening to the storied girlhood of my grandma, Mama. Especially during Covid, the themes are incredibly relevant!
    • 5/5
      This was a ten star book! Wonderful characters, great dialog. I laughed, I cried and I HATED to have it end! Have recommended it to all my friends. Looking for more books by this author, hoping they are this good.