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    The Girls from Corona del Mar: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Girls from Corona del Mar: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Girls from Corona del Mar: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Girls from Corona del Mar: A Novel

    Written by Rufi Thorpe

    Narrated by Rebecca Lowman

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Why did Lorrie Ann look graceful in beat-up Keds and shorts a bit too small for her? Why was it charming when she snorted from laughing too hard? Yes, we were jealous of her, and yet we did not hate her. She was never so much as teased by us, we roaming and bratty girls of Corona del Mar, thieves of corn nuts and orange soda, abusers of lip gloss and foul language.

    An astonishing debut about friendships made in youth, The Girls from Corona del Mar is a fiercely beautiful novel about how these bonds, challenged by loss, illness, parenthood, and distance, either break or endure.

    Mia and Lorrie Ann are lifelong friends: hard-hearted Mia and untouchably beautiful, kind Lorrie Ann. While Mia struggles with a mother who drinks, a pregnancy at fifteen, and younger brothers she loves but can't quite be good to, Lorrie Ann is luminous, surrounded by her close-knit family, immune to the mistakes that mar her best friend's life. Then a sudden loss catapults Lorrie Ann into tragedy: things fall apart, and then fall further-and there is nothing Mia can do to help. And as good, brave, fair Lorrie Ann stops being so good, Mia begins to question just who this woman is, and what that question means about them both.

    A staggeringly honest, deeply felt novel of family, motherhood, loyalty, and the myth of the perfect friendship, The Girls from Corona del Mar asks just how well we know those we love, what we owe our children, and who we are without our friends.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 8, 2014
    ISBN9780804191395
    Unavailable
    The Girls from Corona del Mar: A Novel

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    Reviews for The Girls from Corona del Mar

    3.5/5

    64 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I think this book really brings up the issue of how well do we really know one another and how much control do we really have over what happens in our lives! The story of two troubled women and their friendship over the years.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. The title is a bit misleading. I thought the story would be much more lighthearted and Judy Blume-ish. But, no. It's rather dark and serious. By looking at the beautiful-but-complicated friendship between Mia and Lorrie Ann, we see how life can take all kinds of unexpected turns. Thorpe's writing is exquisite. I can't wait for her next book.
    • 3/5
      I think this book really brings up the issue of how well do we really know one another and how much control do we really have over what happens in our lives! The story of two troubled women and their friendship over the years.
    • 4/5
      The story of an intense childhood friendship between Mia and Lorrie Ann, this novel explores the balance of good and evil and self perceptions as the two deal with high school, family disfunction, death, unwanted pregnancy, birth of a severely disabled son, geographic and emotional distance, romances, and drug abuse.
    • 4/5
      It lost a star only because of the part of the book that, in my opinion, seems to look down on any woman who is not a mother. Other than that, I loved it...beautiful writing and beautiful, deeply flawed, realistic characters. It is dark and rather depressing; I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for a light read.
    • 4/5
      Friendships between girls can be intense. And in the case of Mia and Lorrie Ann, there is no question that this is true. The Girls from Corona del Mar by Rufi Thorpe, tells the story of Mia and Lor, as they grow from young girls to women, and the journey is filled with sun tans and lemon juice, giggling, and trips to the mall. But it's also filled with heartbreak and conflict, growing pains and despair.Mia and Lorrie Ann live in the California town of Corona del Mar. They are lifelong friends, who are total opposites. Mia is the “bad girl”, living in a dysfunction family with a Mother that drinks heavily, and two brothers who she practically raises. She is “heartless” and yet honest. Lorrie Ann is beautiful and kind, almost angelic in her goodness, with a close knit family that seems plucked out of a fairytale to all who observe them. But when tragedy strikes Lorrie Ann her life seems to tumble out of control, with one thing leading to another, Mia trying all along to make it all better Lor, until finally Mia questions whether she really ever knew the real Lorrie Ann, and was she all that Mia made her out to be.What did I think? The writing is so compelling. Once I started reading the first pages, I could not put it down. The story is told in Mia’s voice, and it is so real. The intense feelings best friends have for one another, the loyalty, the disappointments, the small betrayals, and the unfaltering support after all is said and done, all translate on the pages beautifully. The story is filled with a whirlwind of emotions and thought provoking situations that make this an amazing feat of writing, and would make a wonderful book to discuss. I kept trying to imagine what I would do, what I could do in the situations the girls had to deal with. I felt such anguish at times because the story unknowingly wraps itself around you and makes you part of it.Favorite Character? Mia was my favorite character, right from the start. And it seems to me, without letting out any spoilers here, that Mia was the better of the friends, almost always putting Lorrie Ann first in their lives, whereas Lorrie Ann lived off the kindness of others and Mia’s fierce loyalty. (When you read this book, and you should, let's talk about that aspect of friendships- the give and take, is it always equal?)Love, loyalty, motherhood, is the right choice the same for everyone? Do we ignore the faults of our loved ones out of loyalty or because we want the world to be perfect outside of ourselves? Loss, tragedy, fear, how can we be true to ourselves when we don’t agree with the decisions of the ones we love? And how do we reconcile that within ourselves? The Girls from Corona del Mar is beautiful, intense, and paints a portrait of two young girls learning to become the women they were meant to be, and be the friends they thought they should be.
    • 4/5
      A different type of friendship read. Couldn't put it down.