Nobody's Girl

This is an extremely well-written book about "the mysteries of life in a small New Mexico town", where Birdy Stone, a transplanted English teacher, is wheedled by a middle-aged widow into helping edit her memoirs of her dead husband and teen-age daughter, who died within days of each other under mysterious circumstances ten years ago. As she works, Birdy becomes convinced that all is not as it seemed at first, and attempts to find out the truth behind this reclusive and enigmatic family. It takes a fine talent to make a sympathetic character out of Birdy (she does drugs, is sleeping with one of her students, and shoplifts), but the book is a fine read until the end, which is marred by an inconclusive finish - unless the message the show more author intended is that the living are more important than the dead, murdered or not, and it is they who have the claim on our attention and energies. show less

Birdy Stone is a 30-year-old Chicago transplant teaching English at Pinetop High School in Pinetop, New Mexico. Her best friend is Jesus, another teacher who is gay, and they do a lot of partying together. Birdy begins an affair with one of her students and then becomes more entangled with the family when his mother asks her to help edit a book she is writing about the family tragedy. Mark's sister Theresa committed suicide when she was 17 by jumping off a cliff, and his father died a few days later in a car accident. There are interesting parts to the book, including the mystery about the dual tragedies, but I really came to detest Birdy, who is a whiny, spoiled brat with no redeeming characteristics. The author tries to make her show more sympathetic in the end, but it is too little too late. Also, the reader never finds out the "answer" to the mystery, which is somewhat disappointing. show less