Greensleeves

Shannon Kathleen Lightley is an ex-pat mongrel - born in Ireland to a British actress and an American investigative journalist, she has lived her life out of suitcases, residing in houses and hotels all over the world, but never fitting in anywhere. When she finishes high school in America, she revolts against her father's plan that she begin college immediately, and instead takes a job offered by a family friend; a lawyer, he is investigating the strange will left by a woman which completely ignores the woman's grown daughter and instead leaves odd bequests to a bunch of strangers in Portland, Oregon. Shannon reinvents herself as Georgetta, a gum-chewing, blue-eyelidded, beehive-hairdo-wearing girl who takes the dead woman's room at a show more boarding house and starts working as a waitress. Her sleuthing activities, however, teach her much more about herself than the motives of her neighbours.... I first read Eloise Jarvis McGraw's Greensleeves in the early 1970s when I was 12 or 13 years old, and it stayed with me for decades after, so I was very glad to learn that it was being reissued, in e-book form, this Spring as part of a series called "Nancy Pearl Presents A Book Crush Rediscovery." Who Nancy Pearl is and how she found this book (and others, one presumes) is anybody's guess, but I'm delighted to find that the book remains as wonderful on re-reading as it did the first time around. I think what grabbed me the most about the story was the "ex-pat mongrel" bit - like Shannon, I was born in one country of parents from another, lived in four countries by the age of 8 and never fit in anywhere (although my family was not glamorous at all, unlike Shannon's). So I related to the character immediately, and fell into the story because of that. I'm not too sure what the readership for this reissue might be, though, given that the target audience of young girls/women today lead lives completely unlike the lives of people in 1968, and many aspects of the story (the boarding house, the expectation of early marriage for young women, even the way airports were laid out and accessed) would seem entirely foreign to today's youth. Nevertheless, I'm pleased that it exists in the world again, and that it lives up to my fond memories of it; recommended! show less

A more eloquent exploration of a young woman's search for self, which we sometimes call "growing up" or "coming of age," than any I have read in a great while.

Eighteen-year-old Shannon Kathleen Lightley, daughter of notable and multiple parents, had spent most of her life traveling from one place to another, and felt herself a stranger wherever she went. Unsure of who she was, or what she wanted to do, she jumped at the chance to spend a summer incognito, the chance to "create" herself. But had Shannon created the girl who came to be known as "Greensleeves," had the new people in her life somehow drawn her out, or had she been there all along?

This delightful young-adult novel was rewarding on many different levels. Although I could show more have predicted the outcome vis-a-vis the legatees from the beginning, the narrative is involving enough that the reader rushes along, anxious to know just how each discovery comes about. Ms. McGraw understands her characters, the complexity of their motivations, and the sometimes unexpected ways in which they interact. Some of these moments of insight made me laugh, as when the snooty Helen decides "to be Democratic" about the seemingly plebian Georgetta. Others were undoubtedly tragic, as when Georgetta recognizes the loneliness of the elderly Mrs. Hockins, whose great personal loss has imprisoned her in the past, but finds herself unable to even extend a simple invitation to tea, or to imagine that such an invitation would be welcome.

The great majority of McGraw's characters are neither one thing nor the other, however, but a mixture of many things. This is especially true of Shannon/Georgetta/Greensleeves, who in the process of trying to "find" or create herself, discovers that her interactions with and feelings for the other people in her life are both a help and hindrance to her quest.

It is in this ambiguity that McGraw truly manages to create some moments of pathos, and a few passages about the layer-like nature of truth, that really strike home. Towards the end of the book, Mr. Bruce states that it is impossible to help people. I think that what McGraw is really driving at, however, is the impossibility of saving people from themselves. A very complex and difficult point to convey without becoming didactic, but McGraw manages beautifully.

I considered rewarding Greensleeves with five stars, a rating I save for books that either move me greatly, or prompt me to think along unexplored channels. But despite its many and undeniable virtues, I found McGraw's portrayal of Greensleeve's awakening sexuality somewhat disturbing. In two separate cases, the situation becomes amorphously "dangerous," either because Shannon responds with passion to a kiss, or because she directs a "certain kind" of look at a young man. The implication seems to be that Shannon's own sexual awareness or desire are somehow the cause of these young men losing control over themselves (a depressingly common attitude, even today). This may or may not be a fair analysis of McGraw's intention, but it was the impression created in me. An impression irritating enough to merit a 1-star demotion. show less

Greensleeves by Eloise Jarvis McGraw is a coming-of-age story, detailing three months in the life of eighteen-year-old Shannon Kathleen Lightley. Shannon is something of a misfit, bouncing between continents and parents and struggling to find her niche in life. After a miserable senior year of high school in Oregon, Shannon is more than ready to start the next chapter of her life. But with no set plans for college or a career, she's left wondering what, exactly, that should be.

Oh dear, this was a bit of a disappointment. This has been on my to-read shelf for months, and I've only just managed to track down a copy. The first third or so of this book is excellent, composed of vivid, witty writing that is characteristic of McGraw at her show more best. The mystery of Mrs. Dunningham's unusual will is intriguing, and Shannon's hijinks as Georgetta the undercover waitress are delightful.
However, about halfway through the book, it seemed that almost everything would soon be wrapped up, and I started to wonder what could be left. I'm beginning to wonder if McGraw herself was also plagued by this dilemma.

As a reader, I found Shannon's tortuous journey towards some kind of self-actualization increasingly frustrating, and after a while, it really started to detract from my enjoyment of the book. Even worse, despite all the dithering about, the most interesting plot points in the book are never satisfactorily resolved. There was also a weird love triangle that came out of nowhere, and the book really would have been much better without it. It didn't show anyone off to their best advantage and had undertones of assault. Dave is the worst.

Overall, a decent book, and maybe one I would have enjoyed more as a teenager. However, if you're a teen and still struggling to find your direction in life, I have a hunch this book will probably stress you out more than anything else. show less

This re-issue of a 1968 book was featured as part of Librarian Nancy Pearl’s series, “A Book Crush Rediscovery.” I’m so glad she added it; I somehow missed it the first time around.

Shannon Kathleen Lightley, age 20, narrates this story of what happened in the summer when she was 18, at loose ends, and helping her Uncle Frosty, a lawyer, with some investigative work in the Portland, Oregon area. Shannon not only didn't know what she wanted to do with her life; she didn’t even know who she really was. She felt like one sort of person when with her famous actress mother and her husband, and another when she was with her famous journalist father and his wife. She was yet another when living with her Aunt Doris and Uncle Syd. They show more all had different expectations for her, and it was hard to know what she herself wanted. She didn’t feel there was anywhere she quite belonged.

As part of her “undercover” work for Uncle Frosty, Shannon was to find out why a recently deceased woman left all her money to her neighbors instead of to her daughter, who was now contesting the will. She decided to take on a different look and persona for the job, and transformed herself into a gum-smacking working-class girl with heavy eye makeup and a beehive hairdo named Georgetta. In this guise, she got a room in the boarding house where most of the the putative legatees lived, and got to know each of these people and what they meant to the late Mrs. Dunningham, whose room she now occupied.

She took a job as a waitress at the diner across the street, The Rainbow, and was given a grass-green uniform to wear; thus she quickly acquired the moniker “Greensleeves.” She also attracted the attention of a local college boy who was one of those named in the will: George Maynard Sherrill, called Sherry by everyone.

Before long, Shannon went from being convinced that the neighbors were in some sort of conspiracy to rip off the benighted Mrs. Dunningham, to a strong sympathy with them and an understanding of why Mrs. Dunningham made her peculiar bequests. But complications arose: Sherry became quite interested in her, or in Georgetta, at any rate, and then there was another man, Dave, at the boarding house with whom she had some kind of chemistry. But who did Shannon want? And what would happen to their interest in her if they knew she was Shannon and not Georgetta?

Evaluation: This is a lovely story about identity; what makes us into the people we are; and how free we can ever be to change who we are and what we want to become. It seems like a simple little coming of age story, but it is really so much more, and aspects of it stay with you long after reading it, which is why, I imagine, it is a natural for a “book crush rediscovery.” show less

Here's another of those books I first read when still in elementary school and kept coming back to read over and over. I lost sight of the book for a good many years and spent some time running down a copy of my own. Reading it again when I obtained it, some 20 years after the last time I read it, and it was an entirely new book. I saw things in it I'd missed entirely in my teens.

It's a story of identity and finding one's place in the world, told with humor and insight. The young woman protagonist, out of place, not really interested in college, not prepared to continue life in the shadows of her famous and world traveling parents, finds a reason to escape her own life and create a new one for a single summer. There's a little pretense show more at a mystery, but the real mystery is about her and who she will become. show less

Greensleeves by Eloise Jarvis McGraw was one of my favourite books when I was in my early teens. I used to borrow it over and over again from the library, but then I moved, and was never able to find it again. So finally, after 30 years, I found an affordable copy. I was very excited to receive it, but then almost afraid to read it in case it had lost its lustre. I managed to overcome my fear, though, and started reading the first evening.

Shannon is an 18 year old girl who has spent her life shuttling between continents and parents and relatives and schools. After a miserable final year of highschool, she needs some breathing space to figure out who she is, and what she wants to do with her life. An old family friend offers her a chance show more to live on her own for a while, so Shannon takes a job as a waitress and a room in a boarding house. She also takes on an entirely different identity and personality. The book is about Shannon getting to know herself and her new neighbours.

I found that Greensleeves is still an excellent book, although I look at things a little differently from an adult perspective. I now question more of Shannon's actions and decisions, and feel more ambivalent about the conclusion. The book is all about the characters, and those characters are (mostly) very likeable. I'm glad I finally found it, and I will likely re-read it again, although not with quite the same degree of enthusiasm I had as a teenager. show less

A coming of age novel from 1968 set in Portland, Oregon. Quirky and amusing for the first half as Shannon impersonates Georgetta and gets to know the legatees under the will, some of whom see through her disguise. I enjoyed it less once it focussed more on the issues of who Shannon really is and whether she will marry Dave or Sherry. A contemporary romance would surely have gone with Dave (he'd certainly have been my choice!), but then a contemporary romance wouldn't have an 18-year old making that kind of decision.