Mean Girls in 1890's New York

I talk about books a lot. I became serious about reading after falling upon the Harry Potter series. Nothing has been as good as that series, but I do find great reads from time to time. Some come from friends, most come from “Amazon’s Recommended for You” list on my kindle. There are also several authors that I just can’t get enough of and therefore I read everything they will ever write. One such author is Anna Godbersen.

While visiting family in California I saw my cousin who is an avid/old school reader (and when I say old school I mean that she keeps every book she reads and will NEVER convert to a kindle) reading The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. I didn’t even get a synopsis from her. I liked the cover I saw in her  hand and that was enough to pique my curiousity. I was weary of the new read because I was worried it would be some “Gossip Girl” garbage that would annoy the hell out of me. So rather than buy, or even download a free sample, I checked it out from the library. The city library was new at the time and I wanted to see the inside of the building. The book was better than I could have expected. I quickly went on to read the following three books.

The story is set in the late 1890’s. There is girl drama, gossip, lies, murder, sex (though not 50 shades style) and of course tragic love. What appealed to me was how much the book reminded me of the great movie Mean Girls. This book and that movie both display how evil a girl can be to have what she wants for herself. Beauty and fame is so important to young women, no one else matters. I’d say the only difference between the characters in the book from over 100 years ago, and girls in our current time period, is their circumstances based on the times. The root emotions and ideas are all the same, but back then you had to worry about what was proper of a lady and who would talk about you to the society pages in the newspaper. For instance, it is un-lady-like to go in public without a hat. You will get freckles! Also, if you are seen without a male escort when you’re unmarried, be sure that you will hear about it in the newspaper and all around town. The “rules” of the late 1800’s are so ridiculous. I think some politicians currently running for office would love to put women back in these constricting rules… but I digress.

Read “The Luxe”, by Anna Godbersen and continue through the series. When you finish, move onto her other series, “Bright Young Things” set in the 1920’s. Though the setting in the 20’s is so advanced in time compared to the 1890’s, they still had a long way to go. I love them both. You won’t be disappointed.

Find her series’ in reading order: www.annagodbersen.com