The Beginners

Starred review from February 14, 2011
Dread and desire hang deliciously over every page of Wolff's gothic tale of an adolescent New England girl's unlikely education. Ginger is imaginative, her nose always in a book, and not as advanced, sexually or socially, as her best friend, Cherry, who wants to talk to boys rather than play castle at the abandoned mill. Ginger's family, meanwhile, has lived in a state of near suspended animation since the death of her older brother. But when an odd young couple walk into the cafe where Ginger works, she has her own entrée into a sophisticated world of frank sex talk and philosophical musings. The Motherwells, Raquel and Theo, say they are in town to research the town's past—witch trials, the legend of a town sunk beneath the reservoir—and they allow Ginger and Cherry, but mostly Ginger, into their strange cohort and a party to their sometimes alarming schemes. As Ginger starts avoiding most contact that does not involve the Motherwells, her shrinking world grows more sinister and seductive. Wolff conjures the state of smothering awe and fixation Ginger has for the Motherwells, and her twin needs to be wanted by them sexually and as a stand-in daughter lends a throbbing urgency to a novel as creepy as it is marvelous.

January 1, 2011

Lonely Ginger, who's going through the no-one-understands-me adolescent blues, is delighted when Theo and Raquel Motherwell move to her secluded New England village and show an interest in her. Then she starts puzzling out their past, their intentions, and her town's hidden history (remember the Salem witch trials?). An award-winning poet (e.g., the National Poetry Series for Manderley) and cofounder of both Fence magazine and Fence Books, Wolff has the wherewithal to deliver something remarkable here. I have my fingers crossed; this should be both smart and absorbing.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2011
No one ever comes to little Wick, Massachusettsuntil oddly attractive Theo and Raquel show up and take a vaguely unhealthy shine to 15-year-old, virginal Ginger Pritt. Reader, dark deeds will soon ensue, and much heated speculation will be offered about just who or what Theo and Raquel might be. Are they reincarnations of early Wick settlers who came to bad ends? Could Raquel be a witch? Simply and less glamorously, could they be borderline sociopaths? Whatever they are, they seem to exert an almost hypnotic hold over Ginger and her best friend, Cherry, whose fevered dreams and fantasies grow increasingly entangled with real life. All this is told in florid, mannered prose evoking an exemplary Gothic aura and the kind of ebon darkness in which lurks the unspeakable. The kind of thing that is easy to parody but difficult to pull off, The Beginners showcases the affinity for the gothic already implied by the title of one of Wolffs poetry collections, Manderley (2001), as well as her first name. Irresistible fodder for fever dreamers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2011

Best known for her poetry (e.g., Manderley) and as the founder of both Fence Magazine and Fence Books, Wolff applies her lyrical dexterity with precision in her debut novel. Set in Wick, MA, the story unfolds around young Ginger Pritt's relationship with her family; her best friend, Cherry; the town's newest residents, flashy Theo and Raquel Motherwell; and the town's historical role in witch trials in the late 1600s. Wolff weaves the historical narrative of the town into Ginger's understanding of the modern forms of power she must overcome in her maturation into womanhood. As a corollary, the supernatural elements in the story are used as a form of empowerment for the female protagonist--her life might be a little more magical than her mundane surroundings would suggest. This is a quick read, but the simple prose and linear plot conceal a more complex subject. VERDICT Wolff's debut novel is an entertaining coming-of-age story, illuminating heroic femininity experienced in everyday life. This novel will appeal to readers who enjoyed Donna Tartt's The Little Friend or Goldberry Long's Juniper Tree Burning.--Joshua Finnell, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.