The Guineveres

I won a copy of this book as a Goodreads giveaway.

The first paragraph of this book really sets the tone for the entire book. You can just feel that this book is not going to end up with everyone skipping off into the sunset.

The Guineveres is a book about 4 young girls, who really do not have much in common besides their names and their dreams of things becoming better once they are 18 and have control over their own lives. At first I had a little trouble keeping the Guineveres apart, however the author does a really great job at fleshing them out both physically & personality wise.

I loved how this book is told from 1 point of view throughout and is being told from a future perspective, with small tidbits & hints of how each girls show more life eventually does turn out. The girls are being raised in a convent after being abandoned by their parents, so I enjoyed the little chapters about different saints that the girls may have related to at one point or another. Initially, I wanted more back story, I wanted to know why these girls parents abandoned them, and I loved how the author incorporated each girls back story slowly in the book. It really made me want to keep reading, it was almost like peeling back the layers of each girl.

Overall, this book is about 4 young girls clinging to each other in the absence of anything else and how they grow up and start to grow apart. But even in growing apart, the are intertwined by common experiences that forever bind them to each other. show less

I am guilty again of judging a book by its cover, but I will not apologize for this occasional slip – especially when the novel offers a dramatic and heart-wrenching story of abandoned women. The Guineveres by Sarah Domet tells the story of four young girls – all named Guinevere -- abandoned by their families at a convent. The structure of the novel is also interesting. One of the Guineveres narrates, and Domet has interspersed brief lives of sometimes obscure saints, which prefigure some crises facing one or more of the young ladies. Each Guinevere also takes a turn narrating her own story in a chapter titled with her name and “Revival.” At first, I thought I was headed into a tragedy, but when I realized the story describes show more the courage, empathy, and friendship of the four girls, I knew I would not regret the choice of this debut novel. Domet has a Ph.D. in literature and writing from the University of Cincinnati, and she has also written a non-fiction book on writing.

The girls were nicknamed Gwen, Ginny, Win, and the narrator, Vere. I was afraid my cynicism would take over, as I predicted the story would be another horrific tale of abuse, but it was not. The nuns who supervised the girls did so with tenderness and strict discipline, and only the most egregious transgressions would merit a stay in the “Penance Room” – a time-out space for teens. The usual punishment ranged from loss of dessert at dinner up to service hours in the hospital and loss of recreational periods.

Having spent a year at a boarding school in upstate New York, I could empathize with the disappointment the girls felt when days after weeks after years went by with no contact with their families. I only suffered a few days without mail. Domet writes, “‘It doesn’t look like anything has arrived this week, dear.’ She patted the top of Ginny’s head. ‘I’m sorry.’ // ‘For me?’ I asked. I already knew the answer, and Sister Fran didn’t even pretend. // ‘Not this time,’ she said. ‘Perhaps you should write another letter,’ she suggested, then placed her arm warmly around my shoulder. ‘Better to give than receive. That’s an excellent policy to remember, don’t you think? Something therapeutic in letter writing, like baring one’s soul. The benefit is yours just by writing it’ (127). My mother saved every letter I wrote that winter, and she recently turned them over to me. What a window into that year!

The girls frequently tried to hold onto the fragile memories of the life they lost. Domet writes, “I began to imagine a story about my father’s new life in a different city: a wife and a kid, a small house just like ours. I wondered if he looked in one his new kid like he used to look in on me at night when he thought I was asleep. I’d keep my eyes closed, playing possum, because if I did, he’d stand there for a while, and I could feel the weight of his shadow above me. If he found me awake, he’d simply shut the door, his footsteps fading down the hallway” (141).

The nuns in this story recall some fond – and some not so fond – moments in my elementary school days. Years later, I found out my fifth grade teacher was 16 years old, when she arrived to teach me and about 50 of my classmates. Sister Fran always had an aphorism handy for the Guineveres. In this chapter, the old tried and true “Your body is a temple” appears. Domet writes, “‘God has loaned you these bodies, girls, like a book in the library. Do you write in the book you borrow? No. Do you place the book face-down and break the spine? I think not. You’re gentle with the book you borrow – you treat it better than you’d treat your own because you know it is not yours. We must not grow too fond of the book, for we know we must return it. But, still, this doesn’t prevent you from using the book, reading it so to speak, as long as you do so with care” (241). I could not help myself from silently answering, “Yes, Sister Michael Mary,” recalling those 5th grade days.

Sarah Domet’s first novel, The Guineveres, is a sure winner. This novel can take you back to your grade school experiences – minus the paddle and the pathos you also might have experienced. 5 stars.

--Jim, 11/4/16 show less

Four girls named Guinevere are sent to the convent school and become best friends.

Vere is the narrator, the original Guinevere.
Ginny is petite, Win bigger and stronger, Gwen is the beauty.

Having gone to Catholic school, I appreciated a lot of the story. Their traditions reminded me of old school days. The girls in the book were even among the very first female altar servers and I was as well. I could understand a lot of the girls' school experiences.

The story as alternates some chapters about saints which I found interesting. It also told the girls' stories of how they wound up at the convent school which was completely depressing in every scenario.

I liked how the nuns tried their best to protect the girls from the outside world. I show more really felt like even when they were over the top about sin, it was because they cared so much.

Here's where they lost me. Gwen. I've been thinking about this a lot since finishing the book today. Gwen's entire storyline was unpleasant. Her before story was awful, she was very pushy towards the other Guinevere's who were trying their best to behave and the way her storyline ended. I haven't got words to explain how her story ended without spoilers. I can just say I didn't like it. If Gwen and her storyline had no existed I would have liked this book way more. As it was, I found myself enjoying the story less for her character.

Sorry, it was well written and highly praised I'm sure, but I just can't get past any part of Gwen's storyline. show less

This is a quiet book. I wasn't sure I really liked it but I kept reading because I also didn't dislike it, and I wanted to see how everything turned out. I was very, very surprised by the last chapter, and not in a bad way. But in a good way? Probably not. The whole thing is kind of plodding and morose, but it sticks with you.

Read from July 26 to August 13, 2016

Four girls -- all named Guinevere (Vere, Gwen, Ginny, and Win) -- are left at a convent by their families. As their tale unfolds (as told by Vere) we learn about the tragic lives of Saints and about the tragic stories that left The Guineveres abandoned by their families at The Sister's of Supreme Adoration.

The author did a wonderful job of making Vere's voice authentic; however, I struggled with the time and place. WHEN was this? What war? Where is this? I think I understand the reason for the vagueness (because these things could happen at any time, in any place, to any girl), but as far as THIS story a little more specificity would have been appreciated.

3.5 stars

Yikes, I don't see how a non-Catholic could stomach this novel. It goes on and on about saints and their glorious martyrdom as if death is a reasonable choice to rape or not even rape, just marital sex. Wow, how much do you have to hate the female body to buy that one? I don't recommend this to anyone except as a good example of religious indoctrination.

I'm actually really annoyed about not liking this book, and I think half of the reason I don't is because I expected something entirely different.

While it's an intriguing isolationist, and therefore possibly extreme, exploration of the journey of girlhood, I found that most of the time, much like the characters, I felt like I was just waiting for something else to happen. I found that I struggled to finish the last few chapters.

For me this book just didn't really evoke any feelings in me except boredom.