Girl Trouble

by Holly Goddard Jones

Book Overview

In Girl Trouble, acclaimed writer Holly Goddard Jones examines small-town Southerners aching to be good, even as they live in doubt about what goodness is.

A high school basketball coach learns that his star player is pregnant--with his child. A lonely woman refIects on her failed marriage and the single act of violence, years buried, that brought about its destruction. In these eight beautifully written, achingly poignant, and occasionally...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061776300
• ISBN13: 9780061776304
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

What a powerful collection of stories

I've been familiar with Holly's work for a little while now, having read "Parts" online. I can't remember the last short story collection I read that was as powerful and emotional as this book. Every story ends not with a whimper or subtle realization but with a bang. I showed "Parts" to my wife, who isn't really a big reader, and she loved it, even though she cried three times. Buy this book, you will not regret it, there is not a weak story in here, and it touches on all of the emotions that we've all been though - regret, loss, anxiety, hope, love, lust, betrayal...you name it. Excellent work Holly, I can't wait to read your novel.

Debut Fiction by an Extraordinary Talent

The stories in Girl Trouble grabbed me by the shoulders and made my heart quicken in a way that no single short story has done in a very long time. Holly Goddard Jones is a young writer whose deep sensitivity, empathy and generosity belie her years. Every one of the stories in this collection is imbued with such startling wisdom and insight, but especially heartbreaking were "Good Girl," "Parts," "Retrospective" and "Allegory of a Cave." One question posed by the ex-husband to his ex-wife in "Parts" actually brought tears to my eyes, as did several lines and scenes in "Good Girl" and "Retrospective." These stories have such a richness and scope to them that they often give the impression of a novel rather than a short story. This is deep, emotional writing that can't help but affect you as it plumbs the depths of grief and loneliness and despair, as it portrays the loss of innocence. While the characters in Girl Trouble are small-town folk, they speak to denizens of both the small town and the big city, as many of them lead lives compromised by compromise, and their passions, though quiet, come across loud and clear to us--heartwrenchingly so. I could continue with this gushing, but let's leave it at this: Goddard-Jones has something to say, and we are much the better for listening.

Exceptional Debut

In these stories Holly Goddard Jones has a way of putting one humble sentence after another to create something extraordinary. The result is true artistry, an invisibility impossible to categorize or imitate. Perhaps this is one reason all the reviews and articles have overemphasized the regionalism of the stories -- the seamless prose is hard to explain except to say, gee it's really good. For me the stories are universal rather than regional. There's a wisdom and compassion here that makes me want to read more of her work.