Girls in Trucks

January 28, 2008
An unenthusiastic Southern debutante copes with the cruelties of postcollege New York life in Crouch's amusing debut. Sarah Walters is neither a misfit nor the queen of the Camellia Society cotillion scene growing up in Charleston, S.C. But when she and her fellow Camellias try to make a life in New York City, they find themselves coping in unexpectedly dangerous ways—from standard substance addictions to Sarah's fixation on preppy ex-boyfriend Max, a smooth and sadistic child of wealth. While the formula of young women in the big city seems destined for cliché, Crouch subverts most expectations; Sarah almost purposely misses an opportunity for happiness and stability with the gentle lover she met in Europe, and her ploy to ignite sparks with a college friend goes painfully awry. When Sarah goes back to Charleston and faces a perhaps too over-the-top family crisis (it involves suicide and lesbianism), the reader's left with the hope that the worst is over. Though this feels almost like a collection—each chapter its own story with its own narrative technique—Crouch's portrayal of a young woman's self-sabotage and the pitfalls facing young women in a cold world is wise, wry and heartbreaking.

March 15, 2008
Crouch's debut novel-in-linked-stories chronicles the life of Charleston debutante Sarah Walters from her learning the fox trot in grade school to her finding out family secrets in her mid-thirties. The narrative is as raw, frank, and underdeveloped as the characters within, each of whom makes decisions that are difficult to understand. For example, when Sarah's relationship with an abusive man ends and he starts dating someone else months later, she stalks him. She also plunges into excessive alcohol and drug use, which only further clouds her judgment. Unfortunately, Sarah does not have any Southern "sisters" in whom she can confide, as she and her "Camellias" talk more out of Camellia Society obligation than from any actual affinity; they, too, struggle with unhealthy relationships and addictions. In the end, Crouch's portrait of a lady lacks a distinct Southern charm and does not show contemporary women in a positive light. Stylistically, the book resembles Melissa Bank's "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing", but the unexpectedly abrupt ending may confuse readers and leave them wanting more. For larger fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 12/07.]Anne M. Miskewitch, Chicago P.L.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2008
Crouchs debut novel follows southern debutante Sarah Walters as she comes of age in Charleston, South Carolina, and eventually leaves homefor a new life in New York City. Yet, as Sarah struggles to find love in Manhattan, she realizes her southern roots run deep. Through heartbreak and disappointment, she keeps in touch with an eclectic set of childhood friends from the Camellia Society, her debutante group, and tries to recover from an abusive relationship. Her quest for love leads her from the streets of New York to Peru, as she reconnects with men from her past. But suddenly Sarah is forced to return to Charleston after a family tragedy occurs. There, she begins to truly understand the importance of the Camellia bonds she once dismissed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

March 31, 2008
Katie Crouch reads her own book with expression, but she often doesn't do enough to differentiate character voices and doesn't even attempt a Southern accent for these Southern debutantes. More importantly, she lacks the narrator skill to surmount the challenges presented by her writing: unexpected leaps forward in time, skipping over important events, and inexplicably changing from first to third person in some chapters. A more experienced reader might have been able to bridge the transitions and make the audio feel seamless, but as it is, the audio comes across as choppy and often jarring, like a poorly-done abridgement (even though it is unabridged). In addition, when reading the last moment of the book, in which protagonist Sarah reflects on her life and future and what she's learned, Crouch sounds flat, as though she's simply reading aloud, rather than truly being Sarah thinking. Stick with the print version. A Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 28).