The Girls by Emma Cline

The Girls by Emma Cline takes a fictional twist on the real-life Manson family murders of the late 1960’s, telling their story from the perspective of fourteen-year-old Evie, a quasi-member of the troop. She was involved, but not that involved. She was there, but not for everything. And in a strange twist, she was more enamored with “the girls” than with Russell, aka Charles. This reflects Cline’s own apparent interest in the people that surround a cult leader, as opposed to the leader himself—and it’s always a him, right? What causes people to blindly follow, to do unspeakable things, and how does that look to a young teenager who is lost and discarded by her own parents. If the only people who want you are monsters, does that make you one too?

Cline doesn’t slap you in the face with these questions; instead they unfurl slowly, and yes, parts of this book are slow. We pick up with Evie years later throughout the novel, watching her interact with a young couple and seeing how life has slipped through her fingers. These scenes don’t actually lead to anything but an illustration of the damage done to her. Being so close to something so horrible at a young age affected her, but how? She seems stunted and lonely, as if nothing could ever compare to the intense months she had with the family, and so she doesn’t bother with anything. She didn’t end up in jail with the rest of the cult, but instead is in a sort of prison of her own making. This book gives you a lot of things to think about, and it’ll stay with you long after you’ve put it down (and spent a few hours on Wikipedia comparing all the details to the Manson killings, of course).