Thursday, August 4, 2016

Bilgewater; Jane Gardam

Bilgewater; Jane Gardam
Europa - 2016
(originally published in 1977)

Bilgewater is a coming of age story starring a delightful protagonist, Marigold Daisy Green (AKA Bilge - Bilgewater).  She was given the unflattering nickname by cruel boys at the private boarding school in Northern England where her father, "William the Silent"works.

Bilge's is 16 years old and sees herself as odd, large and plain. She has frizzy hair and wears glasses, which the mean spirited boys use against her.  She doesn't have any friends, it's just her and her eccentric father ever since her mother died shortly after she was born.  She thinks that her mother took one look at her after she was born and was already bored stiff by her life with her father so she "upped and died".

A funny, touching but, mostly quirky coming of age story told from the POV of Bilge.  I liked watching her transformation. At the start of the story she's a girl so uncomfortable in her own skin but, by the end of the story at 18 she begins to lose those insecurities and becomes her own person.  If you enjoy quirky characters and academic settings try this novel. I enjoyed seeing the the cards turn in our heroine's favor.  I am looking forward to trying other books by this author. This one is just 227 pages which went quickly.

4/5 stars
(library)

13 comments:

  1. Sounds good! I enjoyed Gardam's Old Filth and have God on the Rocks on my shelf.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes to quirky characters and academic settings. I'll have to look for this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too Kathy. Did you every read The Secret History? No quirky characters in that one but, a great story in an academic environment.

      Delete
  3. I do like quirky but not so sure about the setting. I'm not sure if I've read a book set in academia for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have several of Jane Gardam's books and just haven't checked one out yet. I love coming of age stories so this sounds like a good one to try out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is my first by her but, I do own several others so I'm looking forward to them.

      Delete
  5. I keep meaning to read Jane Gardam but haven't gotten to her yet. This one sounds more to my liking than some others. What is with her yucky sounding titles: Old Filth, Bilgewater?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love coming-of-age stories. This one looks like it could tug at my heart a bit, but I like that.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and double thanks for any comments. If you ask a question in your comments, I will try to reply to it here, or by email if your settings allow me to do so. Thanks again for visiting.