Seventeenth Summer, by Maureen Daly
Daly, Maureen (1942). Seventeenth Summer. New York: Simon Pulse. 291 pages.
Summary and Evaluation: Angie Morrow doesn't date. Until she meets Jack Duluth the summer after graduation. The two seem to be somewhat opposites: she's from a well-to-do family with a father always away on business and went to the (presumably Catholic) all-girls private school outside town; his background is more middle-class, he works for his father's bakery, and was a star basketball player at the public high school. Throughout the course of the book, we see Angie's thoughts and feelings as she experiences falling in love for the first time. What will happen when she goes off to college at the end of the summer?
Granted, this is not a fast-paced book. It seems to capture the feeling of a lazy summer (especially that of the respite between high school and college), however, with moments of strong emotions-perhaps similar to a summer storm. I found the novel to be relaxing, a good escape. According to the author biography at the back of my copy, Maureen Daly wrote Seventeenth Summer while she was in college. This doesn't surprise me as Angie seems so real and true to her age. The novel was written as a contemporary work of the 1940s, so some of the social conventions and vocabulary might seem unfamiliar to readers. The majority of the language is understandable, however, and not all of the unfamiliar terms are necessary to the plot (the reader does not really need to know what sprigged dimity is to appreciate Angie's excitement of going to her first Country Club dance; incidentally, it is a sheer, cotton fabric-in this example decorated with a most likely embroidered plant motif).
Booktalk: I might recommend this book to someone who enjoys historical fiction or is interested in America during the 1940s and thereabouts. I know this isn't technically a work of historical fiction as the novel was written during the time period in which it is set, but it very much *seems* like it belongs with this genre. I also would recommend it to someone looking for a gentle romance book as opposed to something more steamy.
Summary and Evaluation: Angie Morrow doesn't date. Until she meets Jack Duluth the summer after graduation. The two seem to be somewhat opposites: she's from a well-to-do family with a father always away on business and went to the (presumably Catholic) all-girls private school outside town; his background is more middle-class, he works for his father's bakery, and was a star basketball player at the public high school. Throughout the course of the book, we see Angie's thoughts and feelings as she experiences falling in love for the first time. What will happen when she goes off to college at the end of the summer?
Granted, this is not a fast-paced book. It seems to capture the feeling of a lazy summer (especially that of the respite between high school and college), however, with moments of strong emotions-perhaps similar to a summer storm. I found the novel to be relaxing, a good escape. According to the author biography at the back of my copy, Maureen Daly wrote Seventeenth Summer while she was in college. This doesn't surprise me as Angie seems so real and true to her age. The novel was written as a contemporary work of the 1940s, so some of the social conventions and vocabulary might seem unfamiliar to readers. The majority of the language is understandable, however, and not all of the unfamiliar terms are necessary to the plot (the reader does not really need to know what sprigged dimity is to appreciate Angie's excitement of going to her first Country Club dance; incidentally, it is a sheer, cotton fabric-in this example decorated with a most likely embroidered plant motif).
Booktalk: I might recommend this book to someone who enjoys historical fiction or is interested in America during the 1940s and thereabouts. I know this isn't technically a work of historical fiction as the novel was written during the time period in which it is set, but it very much *seems* like it belongs with this genre. I also would recommend it to someone looking for a gentle romance book as opposed to something more steamy.