Serious Girls

A Novel

Maxine Swann

Picador

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Sixteen year olds Maya and Roe form an intense friendship when they find themselves cast as outsiders at an all girls boarding school. Sharing their life stories, and curiosity about the adult world, they wonder how they might become “people” with style and character as opposed to school girls. When they move beyond the enclosed world of the school to experience the city, and relationships with men, both girls test the line between an emerging sense of self and its total disintegration.

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Reviews

Praise for Serious Girls

"Like Virginia Wolf or Doris Lessing, Swann has a sharp ear for young women's inner dialogues....Her spare prose (save for a smattering of lovely similes) and straightforward plot are interrupted, wonderfully by telling insights." --Alizah Salario, Ms. Magazine

Reviews from Goodreads

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Heather  rated it  
Jul 17, 2008
Sixteen year old girls contemplating the meaning of life anchor Swann's debut. Out of context, it seems as though this would be a rather twee sort of story, full of slumber parties, kiss-and-tells, and phrasing so out of date it takes on a humorous quality. Fortunately, that's not the case.

...more
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Suzanne  rated it  
Nov 28, 2011
Beautiful characterizations, beautiful writing. ...more
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Delia  rated it  
Jul 22, 2007
I loved the language of this book -- the prose was very well-written. It's a coming-of-age story about two girls who meet at a boarding school -- both from different backgrounds. Serious but fast read. Definitely worth picking up, even though the ending was a little disappointing. ...more
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About the Author

Maxine Swann

Mazime Swann's short story "Flower Children" won the Cohen Award, The O. Henry Award, the Pushcart Prize and was included in The Best American Short Stories. Serious Girls is her first novel.

Maxine Swann

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Available Formats and Book Details

Serious Girls
A Novel
Maxine Swann

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Picador
December 2004
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312288013
ISBN10: 0312288018
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 240 pages
$17.00
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Hardcover

Learn more about this edition
Hardcover
Picador
November 2003
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780312288020
ISBN10: 0312288026
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 224 pages
$23.00
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