Six Degrees of Separation: The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

It’s time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. The starter book this month is:

The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

This is a book I keep meaning to read, having owned a copy for ages. Maybe this summer perhaps? I won’t dwell on it, just go straight to my first pick – which riffs on Zweig being translated, and having Girl in the title…

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Here, the translation is from one world to another as eleven year old Kimberley Chang and her mother arrive in New York from Hong Kong, thanks to her Aunt Paula, who has arranged everything. At first staying with Aunt Paula, Kimberley thinks it could be wonderful, but then when they are shown to the derelict building where they would be renting, and start work in the factory sweatshop that Uncle Bob manages, it becomes painfully clear that there is a huge debt to be paid for this not so sisterly act of getting them to the USA. Kimberley has to help her mother bag skirts for just two cents an item.  No wonder Kimberley comes to measure the cost of things in skirts. She makes a friend at school, but of course cannot invite her home – she can’t let her see the squalor they live in, or know that she’s an underage factory worker either. Written from Kimberley’s point of view, this was a fascinating tale of what it’s like to be a foreigner living and working in a strange new country, and how she used her intellect to rise above it. Another ‘Girl in Translation’ is

The Italian Girl by Iris Murdoch

Edmund plans to return home only briefly for his mother Lydia’s funeral, but once there can’t get away due to the situation his brother Otto has got himself into which affects the whole family. Of course, it’s more complex than that. Edmund and his older brother Otto are both craftsmen artists; a wood engraver and stonemason.  Otto lives and works at the family manor with his wife Isabel, and teenage daughter Flora. His new apprentice, David Levkin from Leningrad, lives nearby with his sister Elsa. And what of the ‘Italian Girl’?  She is Maria Magistretti, known as Maggie, the housekeeper/nanny, the latest in a long line of Italian girls who’ve looked after the family. Otto has taken to sleeping in his studio and drinking far too much; Isabel suspects goings on. Meanwhile Flora is back from school, she’s a wild child that only Lydia could really control – and she is also in a predicament and demands Edmund’s help. Thrust into Murdoch’s literary farce, everyone’s secrets are revealed to him.  It’s not just a comedy though, this novel has tragedy too before its resolution. And what of the Italian girl? What’s her role? Apart from saying she comes into her own later, that would be telling!

By now, you’ve probably twigged I have a ‘girl‘ theme going on…

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

I won’t dwell on this one. I found it predictable and boring, guessing whodunnit early on. This leads to…

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

This novel, Moran’s debut, is one of the sweariest, wankiest, shaggiest stories I’ve ever read, and it’s narrated by a teenager who is just fourteen at the outset. If you can’t accept that, you would miss the point, for underneath all its bravado is a story about a girl’s coming of age. A teenager in a large working-class family that lives on benefits in a part of the world where most people are in the same boat, told in Moran’s typical earthy style, who goes to London and gets a record reviewing gig. The book, although a bit meandering, was easy to read but very rude of course. I particularly enjoyed the parts featuring Johanna and Welsh rocker and pissante John Kite, with whom she strikes up a true friendship. However, although Moran insists that her heroine is not her, despite coming from a similar background, if you’ve read her part rant, part memoir How to be a Woman, you’ll be familiar with her own life story and you will find this novel repetitive. I do enjoy her columns in The Times mag every week though.

Another girl who worked her way up is…

Shopgirl by Mary Portas

Portas’ first volume of memoir is a delight, following Mary’s childhood and first steps into the world of retail design up until she plucks up courage to freelance.  She was born in 1960 into a big Irish family in Watford, who all squashed into a small end of terrace house. Mary’s Dad worked for tea manufacturer Brooke Bond, and her mum (to whom she dedicates the book) was the typical loving Irish mother who spends much of her time putting food on the table for her big brood.  Fourth of five kids, Mary, it’s fair to say was the naughty one. Giggling in church, eating dog food for a dare, loud and always looking for fun, and all too often getting caught! The book is written in short chapters – extended vignettes, typically of three or four pages – and each is titled with a product of the 1960s or 1970s. It’s a memoir driven by sensory memories – the smell of her mum’s Coty L’Aimant perfume, the first taste of a Caramac bar, hearing Marc Bolan’s Ride a White Swan.  It’s an effective style – I was in reveries each time one of my childhood memories was evoked by these headings, (I was born in 1960 too!) – what a nostalgia trip! This is a warm and happy memoir, although tinged with sadness at losing both parents while still young, her determination shines through. And finally to another shopgirl…

Shopgirl by Steve Martin

Martin’s first novella is is funny – but it’s wry, deadpan funny, often with a hint of wistful tragedy to come. We follow Mirabelle from Vermont, who has ended up in L.A. working at Neiman’s Dept Store on the glove counter. She takes anti-depressants and she’s lonely and feels like life is passing her by at home and at work. One day a gentleman appears at her counter asking advice on buying a pair of dress gloves. She helps him through the purchase, and ‘her inner checklist gives him full marks in all categories.’  He is a successful businessman called Ray – and Mirabelle will find the gift-wrapped gloves on her porch waiting for her a couple of days later. He takes her out to dinner and they begin a tentative relationship, he is divorced, no kids. The novella was published in 2000, followed by a film in 2005. The character of Ray Porter was clearly written by Martin for himself – and he adapted the story for the screen too. With Claire Danes playing Mirabelle, it follows the novel for the most part except the ending is reworked to make for better closure of the film. Both are brilliant!

My 6 degrees have taken me from a girl in Vienna to one in New York, and thence to England before heading back over the pond to LA. Where will your six degrees take you?