Book Review: Boston Girl

Title: Boston Girl
Author: Anita Diamant
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary: Addie Baum was born in 1900 to immigrant parents.  She grew up in the North End of Boston.  This story kicks off with Addie's granddaughter asking her, "How did you get to be the woman you are today"?  Which leads to Addie telling her story.

Review:  Wow.  I'll be the first to admit that I might be a little biased to read a book where the main character's name is Addie (which happens to be the name of one of my daughters for those of you who don't know that) and it takes place in Boston, but wow.  There are so many things to like about this book. For one, Addie is such an individual for a time when it wasn't easy to be a woman or an immigrant.  She wants things but her parents don't support her dreams.  There's a lot of sadness during this time period too, and while usually I like to see how characters really feel about pivotal events that shape who they are, in this instance I think the lack of this exploration works.  I think it's also the point--many people died for various reasons and when it happened, the family wasn't really allowed to mourn.  Great book!