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Cruel Beautiful World
Caroline Leavitt is at her mesmerizing best in this haunting, nuanced portrait of love, sisters, and the impossible legacy of family.
It's 1969, and 16-year-old Lucy is about to run away with a much older man to live off the grid in rural Pennsylvania, a rash act that will have vicious repercussions for both her and her older sister, Charlotte. As Lucy's default caretaker for most of their lives, Charlotte's youth has been marked by the burden of responsibility, but never more so than when Lucy's dream of a rural paradise turns into a nightmare.
Cruel Beautiful World examines the intricate, infinitesimal distance between seduction and love, loyalty and duty, and explores what happens when you're responsible for things you cannot make right.
It's 1969, and 16-year-old Lucy is about to run away with a much older man to live off the grid in rural Pennsylvania, a rash act that will have vicious repercussions for both her and her older sister, Charlotte. As Lucy's default caretaker for most of their lives, Charlotte's youth has been marked by the burden of responsibility, but never more so than when Lucy's dream of a rural paradise turns into a nightmare.
Cruel Beautiful World examines the intricate, infinitesimal distance between seduction and love, loyalty and duty, and explores what happens when you're responsible for things you cannot make right.
357 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 2016
223 people are currently reading
7351 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Leavitt
47 books828 followersCaroline Leavitt is the New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Beautiful World, Is This Tomorrow, With or Without You, Pictures of You (Algonquin Books), which. Pictures of You was on the Best Books of the Year lists from the San Francisco Chronicle, The Providence Journal, Bookmarks and Kirkus Reviews. It was also a Costco Pennie's Pick. Is This Tomorrow was long listed for the Main Readers Prize, a WNBA Reading group Choice, A San Francisco Chronicle Lit Pick/Editor's Choice, a Jewish Book Club Pic and the winner of an Audiofile Earphones Award.
Her 13th novel DAYS OF WONDER will be published by Algonquin/Hatchette in the spring of 2024.
The winner of a New York Foundation of the Arts Grant, a second prize winner in Goldenberg Fiction Prize, A Sundance Screenwriting Lab Finalist, a Nickelodeon Screenwriting Fellowship Finalist and a National Magazine Award Nominee, Leavitt is a senior writing instructor at UCLA and Stanford online and a freelance manuscript consultant. Her work has appeared in New York Magazine, Psychology Today, Salon,More, and more.
She has been featured on The Today Show and profiled in the New York Times.
You can reach her through www.carolineleavitt.com. On twitter @leavittnovelist. On Instagram @carolineleavitt and FB https://www.facebook.com/carolineleav... @carowriter99
Her 13th novel DAYS OF WONDER will be published by Algonquin/Hatchette in the spring of 2024.
The winner of a New York Foundation of the Arts Grant, a second prize winner in Goldenberg Fiction Prize, A Sundance Screenwriting Lab Finalist, a Nickelodeon Screenwriting Fellowship Finalist and a National Magazine Award Nominee, Leavitt is a senior writing instructor at UCLA and Stanford online and a freelance manuscript consultant. Her work has appeared in New York Magazine, Psychology Today, Salon,More, and more.
She has been featured on The Today Show and profiled in the New York Times.
You can reach her through www.carolineleavitt.com. On twitter @leavittnovelist. On Instagram @carolineleavitt and FB https://www.facebook.com/carolineleav... @carowriter99
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 644 reviews
August 11, 2020
Cruel Beautiful World hit me in a way only few books can.
The story, even though is fictional, became personal to me.
Reading this book, written in the most beautiful way, became hard for me.
I already know that writing this review will be even harder.
Cruel Beautiful World talks about three sisters, Lucy and Charlotte, adopted by theiraunt much older sister Iris.
Set in late 1960s and early 1970s, the story briefly talks about Mason girls and perfectly describes the atmosphere and fear that was present in that time.
Lucy is 16 years old girl who falls in love for the first time. She thinks no one understands her completely, no one but the man she loves - William, her teacher who encourages her to write, because he believes she could be a famous writer one day.
After some time, William gets a new job, in free school, and Lucy decides to move away with him.
Because she is a minor, she must not tell anyone, not even her sister, where the two of them will be going.
When they settle down in a small house in rural Pennsylvania, William controls Lucy's every move and, because she is often alone in the house (waiting for him to come back) she realizes that the kind of life she chose for herself is not the kind she wants.
Charlotte is Lucy's older sister, who has always been her protector. She is in college, an excellent student, but after Lucy starts missing, she can't concentrate on anything. Her soul can't have rest until she finds her.
Iris thought she would never be a mother, but once the girls come into her life they become her world.
She never told them she is their sister, they think they are her nieces.
After Lucy's disapearance, Iris can't have piece. She lives for the day she'll reunite with Lucy.
Cruel Beautiful World is beautifully written story. Caroline Leavitt really captured the 1970s atmosphere well, but where she did the best job was in describing feelings.
While reading this book, one can not help but feel. Feel love, feel fear, feel sadness, feel anger, and feel the feelings that are hard to explain with words.
Lucy was my favorite character. In fact, she got so under my skin, that she became one of my all time favorite characters.
Maybe that is why I was so concerned about her.
I hated William. I still hate him. There are a lot of personal reasons why I hate him, but it is what it is.
I rarely hate book characters, I even often like villains, but I hate William passionately.
Cruel Beautiful World is beautiful, emotional book with an open ending, that I would highly recommend to literary fiction lovers out there.
Note: I got this book for free via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. Thank you Algonquin Books.
Read this and more reviews on my blog: https://bookdustmagic.com
The story, even though is fictional, became personal to me.
Reading this book, written in the most beautiful way, became hard for me.
I already know that writing this review will be even harder.
Cruel Beautiful World talks about three sisters, Lucy and Charlotte, adopted by their
Set in late 1960s and early 1970s, the story briefly talks about Mason girls and perfectly describes the atmosphere and fear that was present in that time.
Lucy is 16 years old girl who falls in love for the first time. She thinks no one understands her completely, no one but the man she loves - William, her teacher who encourages her to write, because he believes she could be a famous writer one day.
After some time, William gets a new job, in free school, and Lucy decides to move away with him.
Because she is a minor, she must not tell anyone, not even her sister, where the two of them will be going.
When they settle down in a small house in rural Pennsylvania, William controls Lucy's every move and, because she is often alone in the house (waiting for him to come back) she realizes that the kind of life she chose for herself is not the kind she wants.
Charlotte is Lucy's older sister, who has always been her protector. She is in college, an excellent student, but after Lucy starts missing, she can't concentrate on anything. Her soul can't have rest until she finds her.
Iris thought she would never be a mother, but once the girls come into her life they become her world.
She never told them she is their sister, they think they are her nieces.
After Lucy's disapearance, Iris can't have piece. She lives for the day she'll reunite with Lucy.
Cruel Beautiful World is beautifully written story. Caroline Leavitt really captured the 1970s atmosphere well, but where she did the best job was in describing feelings.
While reading this book, one can not help but feel. Feel love, feel fear, feel sadness, feel anger, and feel the feelings that are hard to explain with words.
Lucy was my favorite character. In fact, she got so under my skin, that she became one of my all time favorite characters.
Maybe that is why I was so concerned about her.
I hated William. I still hate him. There are a lot of personal reasons why I hate him, but it is what it is.
I rarely hate book characters, I even often like villains, but I hate William passionately.
Cruel Beautiful World is beautiful, emotional book with an open ending, that I would highly recommend to literary fiction lovers out there.
Note: I got this book for free via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. Thank you Algonquin Books.
Read this and more reviews on my blog: https://bookdustmagic.com
August 12, 2016
iris never expected to be a parent, after her unconventional marriage and the death of her husband, she thought all that was behind her. When she is asked to assume the guardianship of two young girls, girls whose relationship to Iris is closer than they know, she hesitates and then accepts. She becomes the mother to Lucy and Charlotte, both at a very young age. Throughout the years they become a family but Charlotte will forever feel the protector of Lucy.
A very readable story set against the backdrop of the Vietnam Wars and the Manson family. Though they are only mentioned a few times the fear they inspire will set the stage Forman important, though devastating event in the story. When Lucy, now 16, runs off with her thirty something teacher, Lucy and Iris are devastated, try to do everything they can to find her. This act will forever change this little family. I adored the character of Iris, she was by far my favorite, loved what she did in the beginning and loved what she does at the end. This is a story of family, loyalty but it is also the story of how something and life can go so horribly wrong. A story about picking up the pieces and dealing with uncertainty. A novel of the late sixties, early seventies, college protests, music, communes and a young man dealing with the scars of the past. Some amazing characters in this book, many who go above and beyond and it is interesting to see where life takes them. Beautiful, meaningful prose, but a simply told story but not simple in its rendering.
The ending is somewhat opened ended, at least not definitive allowing the reader to decide what will happen later. I liked that because like life, sometimes things can take an unexpected turn.
ARC from publisher.
A very readable story set against the backdrop of the Vietnam Wars and the Manson family. Though they are only mentioned a few times the fear they inspire will set the stage Forman important, though devastating event in the story. When Lucy, now 16, runs off with her thirty something teacher, Lucy and Iris are devastated, try to do everything they can to find her. This act will forever change this little family. I adored the character of Iris, she was by far my favorite, loved what she did in the beginning and loved what she does at the end. This is a story of family, loyalty but it is also the story of how something and life can go so horribly wrong. A story about picking up the pieces and dealing with uncertainty. A novel of the late sixties, early seventies, college protests, music, communes and a young man dealing with the scars of the past. Some amazing characters in this book, many who go above and beyond and it is interesting to see where life takes them. Beautiful, meaningful prose, but a simply told story but not simple in its rendering.
The ending is somewhat opened ended, at least not definitive allowing the reader to decide what will happen later. I liked that because like life, sometimes things can take an unexpected turn.
ARC from publisher.
November 15, 2016
For 16-year-old Lucy Gold, life is about feeling love, passion, emotion. It's the late 1960s, and in her Boston suburb of Waltham, she thinks she's the only one with these kinds of feelings. Her older sister Charlotte is beautiful and smart, but would rather study and get good grades than pursue any kind of relationship, and her adoptive mother Iris is much older, so Lucy is sure she's never known love before either. It's so hard with no one understanding her, everyone writing off her difficulties with school, and no one expecting much from her.
Until she meets William. William is the coolest teacher in her high school, is the object of many of her classmates' romantic obsessions, with his longer hair and his laid-back manner. His unorthodox teaching methods win him praise with the students but anger the administration. It's not long before Lucy recognizes in William a kindred spirit, a romantic just like she is, and he encourages her creative writing and tells her she has talent to be a famous writer someday.
One day Lucy and William run away, to an isolated town in Pennsylvania, where he's landed a teaching job at a free school, which suits his teaching style. Because she is a minor and he is transporting her across state lines, Lucy has to leave without telling anyone where she is going. And while she enjoys living with William in their own little house, where she can write and cook and practice for the day she turns 18 and they can get married, she quickly tires of being alone every day, with William not allowing her to go anywhere or meet anyone.
Meanwhile, Charlotte and Iris are devastated by Lucy's disappearance and try to figure out where she could have gone, what could have happened to her. Charlotte, in particular, finds herself unable to focus on her schoolwork or meeting people, because all she can do is wonder what happened to her sister, for whom she has always served as protector. Was there some sign that she or Iris missed? Would she know in her heart if Lucy were in danger? The loss, the uncertainty weighs on them more than they could imagine.
Caroline Leavitt is a tremendously talented writer, and she has a particular knack for capturing emotions. (If you've never read her work before, I'd definitely encourage you to read Pictures of You .) Cruel Beautiful World is not only about love and loss, but it's about finding the strength to pick yourself up and rebuild your life. It's a story of realizing you can't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong even if you've always been the protector. And it's also a story about the need to allow yourself a few glimmers of hope.
I thought this was an absolutely beautiful, emotional book. I loved Leavitt's characters and would have enjoyed spending more time with them. She really captured the dichotomy of spirit and responsibility that characterized the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the fear that many felt after the Manson Family murders. I just needed to see how she tied her story together, so I'll admit I woke up in the very early hours of the morning to finish reading it. I was pleased it didn't leave me a total emotional mess, but I was moved and I can't quite get this book out of my mind hours later. And that's the sign of a great one.
NetGalley and Algonquin Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
Until she meets William. William is the coolest teacher in her high school, is the object of many of her classmates' romantic obsessions, with his longer hair and his laid-back manner. His unorthodox teaching methods win him praise with the students but anger the administration. It's not long before Lucy recognizes in William a kindred spirit, a romantic just like she is, and he encourages her creative writing and tells her she has talent to be a famous writer someday.
One day Lucy and William run away, to an isolated town in Pennsylvania, where he's landed a teaching job at a free school, which suits his teaching style. Because she is a minor and he is transporting her across state lines, Lucy has to leave without telling anyone where she is going. And while she enjoys living with William in their own little house, where she can write and cook and practice for the day she turns 18 and they can get married, she quickly tires of being alone every day, with William not allowing her to go anywhere or meet anyone.
Meanwhile, Charlotte and Iris are devastated by Lucy's disappearance and try to figure out where she could have gone, what could have happened to her. Charlotte, in particular, finds herself unable to focus on her schoolwork or meeting people, because all she can do is wonder what happened to her sister, for whom she has always served as protector. Was there some sign that she or Iris missed? Would she know in her heart if Lucy were in danger? The loss, the uncertainty weighs on them more than they could imagine.
Caroline Leavitt is a tremendously talented writer, and she has a particular knack for capturing emotions. (If you've never read her work before, I'd definitely encourage you to read Pictures of You .) Cruel Beautiful World is not only about love and loss, but it's about finding the strength to pick yourself up and rebuild your life. It's a story of realizing you can't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong even if you've always been the protector. And it's also a story about the need to allow yourself a few glimmers of hope.
I thought this was an absolutely beautiful, emotional book. I loved Leavitt's characters and would have enjoyed spending more time with them. She really captured the dichotomy of spirit and responsibility that characterized the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the fear that many felt after the Manson Family murders. I just needed to see how she tied her story together, so I'll admit I woke up in the very early hours of the morning to finish reading it. I was pleased it didn't leave me a total emotional mess, but I was moved and I can't quite get this book out of my mind hours later. And that's the sign of a great one.
NetGalley and Algonquin Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
October 15, 2016
"Why do you always have to think about the worst things?"
"Because the worst things happen all the time."
A character-driven novel about the messiness of love and coping with loss. Sixteen-year-old Lucy runs away with her thirty-year-old English teacher, leaving only a vague note for her adoptive mother and older sister to find. They don't know if they'll ever see her again and Lucy's mysterious disappearance leaves a hole in their lives that can never be filled. Lucy is excited to be an "adult" and has romantic ideas of what a lifetime with William will entail, but she soon realizes how little she knows about him.
[Iris] had seen that poster in Lucy's room, that ridiculous sentiment that you don't belong to me, and I don't belong to you, but if we find each other, it's beautiful. What a stupid thing to say! Of course people belonged to each other. Love owned you. It kept you captive.
It's 1969, and the Vietnam War is in full swing. The Manson murders and the subsequent trial dominate the news. There's a heightened awareness of all the danger in the world. Lucy and her older sister Charlotte had been inseparable since their parents died over a decade ago, but they've been drifting apart recently. Charlotte is busy with schoolwork and preparing for college. As the "big girl helper," Charlotte always had a closer bond with their "distant" relative and adoptive mother Iris. Iris is 79 and planning to travel the world once both girls leave the house. Free-spirited Lucy is feeling left behind and has no idea where her life is heading, unlike her studious sister who has her entire life mapped out. When her English teacher William shows an interest in her, she finds love and a purpose.
"You don't know what you're seeing sometimes, when you see it," [Patrick] said. "You don't know how bad it can get."
I was expecting an intense plot, but it's actually an introspective, character-driven novel. The chapters alternate between the perspectives of Lucy, Charlotte, and Iris. Later, we get the perspective of Patrick, a man Lucy meets near her new home. These people have experienced more than their fair share of miscalculations and heartbreak. They reveal their hopes, fears, doubts, and regrets. They all had big ideas of how their lives would go, but nothing turned out as planned. Despite the many decades between Iris and Lucy, they are so much alike! They were both determined to have better lives than their guardians, but their lives still end up full of complications. For better or worse, they both end up getting trapped in someone else's story and putting aside their own needs for the people they love. Likewise, Charlotte and Patrick both end up putting their lives on hold because they feel guilt about their inability to protect the people who depended on them. There's an overarching fear that one only gets one chance at life. Will any of them ever be able to stop blaming themselves and give themselves a second chance?
[Patrick] had read that the reason there were ghosts was that the living tethered them to life, that the dead lingered not because they needed closure but because the living did. And the living needed to do only one thing for the dead: let them go. And they could never do it.
I really liked the scenes at and near Lucy and William's rustic home in the woods. A threatening atmosphere surrounds the isolated home. Life with William isn't exactly what Lucy expected, but she tries to make the best of it. William becomes increasingly paranoid, manipulative, and possessive, causing Lucy to feel lonely and restless. She has little to occupy her time besides writing and taking care of William. She develops an anxiety over the Manson trial that felt a little forced. Part of it was the marketing; the name Manson screamed out at me, so I was expecting more of a connection than news stories seen on the other side of the country. I didn't feel as strongly about the Vietnam War references since that was part of Lucy and Charlotte's life via student protests. However, the news events add to the anxious atmosphere and give Lucy a new framework to view her life. But even as she begins to develop a more nuanced view of William, it's still difficult for her to resist the strong pull of love.
Sometimes you couldn't fix things, you couldn't make them better, and you had to live with that. It didn't make you a bad person, the way she had thought. It made you human.
I've talked a lot about Lucy, but it's about so much more than her running off with a teacher. Looking back on this book over two weeks later, it's not the plot or historical setting that have stayed with me. It's the process through which these characters learned to cope with their pain and begin again after loss. They have to learn to allow themselves some happiness in the present and that life can't be fully lived in anticipation of the worst case scenario. For all the heartbreak and ugliness in the world, there's also love and beauty waiting to be found. It also shows how inescapable the pull of love can be. I think I would've liked even less closure in the end (I can't believe I'm saying that!), but I know these characters will stay with me for a long time.
____________________________
Books I thought of while reading:
• I'd categorize it with A Place We Knew Well in terms of the general feel, even though there are plenty of differences. History was the bright spot in A Place We Knew Well, whereas it was the characters in Cruel Beautiful World.
• Good Morning, Midnight - the focus on the characters coming to terms with past decisions.
• I Will Send Rain - The mother-daughter relationship
____________________________
My favorite passages:
An argument in Chapter 23.
-AND-
"Falling in love with children was different from giving your heart to an adult. Oh, it was so much better! [Iris] remembered the way she had fallen for Doug, how she couldn't sleep because she kept thinking about him, how when she saw him she wanted to kiss him. Later she felt deep comfort that he was around. But it was love with edges and complications. Loving the girls brought her deep peace, something she could sink into like a blanket."
____________________________
I received this book for free from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This book is available for purchase.
October 18, 2016
This book is set in the backdrop of the late '60s with the ongoing trials of Charles Manson. Lucy is 16 years old and in a relationship with William, her high school English teacher. They decide to run away together at the end of the school year. She leaves behind her sister, Charlotte, and her adoptive mother, Iris. Lucy and Charlotte lost both of their parents at a young age.
They settle in rural Pennsylvania where life is less than ideal for Lucy. She expected a life of love but instead is kept confined to her home, almost as a prisoner. William has strong feelings for Lucy but is overwhelmed with fright about having their relationship exposed to the outside world. At the same time, Iris is facing health issues and challenges living in her home. Charlotte is having difficulty focusing and enjoying life at college. She is burdened with trying to figure out what has happened to her sister.
The book has an easy flow to it, but make no mistake, there are heavy life themes intertwined within this story. The chapters alternate by family members. I enjoyed how the author has us first meet a character, and then provides the details of their past life. She beautifully depicts that as humans we make errors in judgement. Life and the people you love aren’t perfect, it can get messy.
Enjoy this read.
Giving away a copy on my blog until 10/20 https://www.facebook.com/suzyapproved...
They settle in rural Pennsylvania where life is less than ideal for Lucy. She expected a life of love but instead is kept confined to her home, almost as a prisoner. William has strong feelings for Lucy but is overwhelmed with fright about having their relationship exposed to the outside world. At the same time, Iris is facing health issues and challenges living in her home. Charlotte is having difficulty focusing and enjoying life at college. She is burdened with trying to figure out what has happened to her sister.
The book has an easy flow to it, but make no mistake, there are heavy life themes intertwined within this story. The chapters alternate by family members. I enjoyed how the author has us first meet a character, and then provides the details of their past life. She beautifully depicts that as humans we make errors in judgement. Life and the people you love aren’t perfect, it can get messy.
Enjoy this read.
Giving away a copy on my blog until 10/20 https://www.facebook.com/suzyapproved...
May 4, 2019
Love, obsession and forgiveness illuminated.
In my continual quest to read books I own and also clear out some of the TBR backlog, I picked this up a couple of weeks ago and was immediately subsumed by this gripping tale. Every character in this story merits their own book and it is a marvel how Leavitt weaves in their back stories filled with secrets, loss and the inevitability of moving on.
Control wasn’t freedom. It didn’t protect anyone, not you or the ones you loved, and if anything, it kept you from living. Sometimes you couldn’t fix things, you couldn’t make them better, and you had to live with that. It didn’t make you a bad person, the way she had thought. It made you human.
A real life tragedy in the author's life inspired this book and perhaps it's why it feels very much of the present though it takes place in the late 60’s. If you enjoy well-written, character-driven stories with complex narratives that don’t always end tied up with a neat bow, then you’ll find this to be a memorable read.
You could plan all you wanted, but the world cracked open around you and it was all you could to do to remember to breathe.
For a more thorough review, see my friend Cheri’s review and the one that originally placed this book on my shelves. Cheri's review of Cruel Beautiful World
In my continual quest to read books I own and also clear out some of the TBR backlog, I picked this up a couple of weeks ago and was immediately subsumed by this gripping tale. Every character in this story merits their own book and it is a marvel how Leavitt weaves in their back stories filled with secrets, loss and the inevitability of moving on.
Control wasn’t freedom. It didn’t protect anyone, not you or the ones you loved, and if anything, it kept you from living. Sometimes you couldn’t fix things, you couldn’t make them better, and you had to live with that. It didn’t make you a bad person, the way she had thought. It made you human.
A real life tragedy in the author's life inspired this book and perhaps it's why it feels very much of the present though it takes place in the late 60’s. If you enjoy well-written, character-driven stories with complex narratives that don’t always end tied up with a neat bow, then you’ll find this to be a memorable read.
You could plan all you wanted, but the world cracked open around you and it was all you could to do to remember to breathe.
For a more thorough review, see my friend Cheri’s review and the one that originally placed this book on my shelves. Cheri's review of Cruel Beautiful World
October 1, 2016
3.5 stars.
If you read the blurb and think this is about a 16 year old girl who runs off with her 30 something teacher, you'd be only half right. True, Lucy Gold leaves her sister Charlotte and "Mom" Iris in a quandary over where she could be, and yes, most of the story revolves around Lucy's lonely, sheltered existence in the aftermath. But the offshoots into the backgrounds of the few other characters are handled with ease as well. Iris is lonely but content enough with her life, when she gets the call asking if she'll raise the two little girls she never knew existed. Charlotte is happy to put herself second while always looking out for her little sister, until she no longer can do so. Patrick has his own sadness but seems such a good man. In that time of the Sharon Tate murders, Kent State, and communes, there are so many layers to the story. It all culminates with a few storylines left open ended, and a happy ending for my favorite character who will remain unnamed to prevent spoilers.
August 18, 2017
“Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too”
“Landslide” – lyrics by Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac
Philandering fathers, unconventional, dysfunctional marriages, orphaned sisters and hidden truths, secret love and love at last. Murders. This story takes place in the 1960’s, with everything that defines that era, Vietnam, the clothing, the music, the riots, communes, the chants for peace and love. And the Manson murders.
Lucy was five years old and Charlotte six and a half when they came to live with Iris, too young to really understand that their parents had died, too young to understand how they came to live with Iris. Iris had wanted children of her own, and so, in their own way, they became hers and that is how they all became a family. Lucy was the youngest, the baby. Charlotte arrived as a responsible, quietly serious and self-sufficient soul, but Iris worried about Lucy who always seemed to struggle to find her way.
On the last day of school that June of 1969, Lucy, now 16, runs away with William, her thirty-something year old high school teacher, leaving a note under her pillow for Charlotte and Iris to find later.
”I love you but I have to do this. I am happy and safe and I will call you soon and explain everything. Please don’t worry.”
They leave Waltham, Massachusetts for a small farming community in rural Pennsylvania where William has found a new job working for a less regimented school, where children could learn about what they chose to learn about.
While William works, Lucy spends her time mostly writing her stories, reading, trying to learn how to cook, care for their chickens and waiting for William to come home. Her life, isolated, quiet and small, revolves around him. Eventually, it is stifling, the hours of solitude, the waiting for him to return, the waiting for the day she turns eighteen, when they can be married. When news of the Manson murders reach her, she worries about the same thing happening to her as the fate that befell Sharon Tate in those long hours of solitude. She struggles against being cooped up, struggles against William’s rules that she not go anywhere during the day.
”He had read that the reason there were ghosts was that the living tethered them to life, that the dead lingered not because they needed closure but because the living did. And the living needed to do only one thing for the dead: let them go. And they could never do it.”
There is some lovely prose within these pages, some momentous lessons learned, some hearts broken, some healed. I loved a few of the characters in this story, Iris, Patrick, Charlotte, but my heart ached for Lucy.
” Sometimes you couldn't fix things, you couldn't make them better, and you had to live with that. It didn't make you a bad person, the way she had thought. It made you human.”
August 24, 2020
4.5 to 5.0 haunting, drawn out, hazy, mesmerizing stars.
I tried to stop reading it a few times, actually, but how could I; that bible or prayer verse kept popping up in the back of my head, "There, but the Grace of God, go me." It wasn't exactly the same but it was close enough. Funny thing though, I didn't notice it for a long time until I was already gripped by the story of two teenage girls without parents, in 1969. Summer of love about to happen in a big way, for so many, in big and small ways. We didn't know it yet, but we sure felt it's pull. Wow, and it was exactly around this time in the school year, May, when every kid in high school is tingling with anticipation. LET ME OUT!
For Lucy and Charlotte, the two sisters left in the care of a "distant relative," at the ages of 5 and almost 7, respectively, after their parents were killed in a supper-club fire, were no different really. They each had their own dreams for that summer: Charlotte, the older but more introverted sister had studied like crazy the last two years and successfully won a scholarship to Brandeis to become a vet. She was pretty, smart and confident but hardly believed any one said that about her!
Lucy, the real extrovert, had trouble concentrating in school. She wasn't dumb, just too busy, distracted; there were so many things to think about than homework and grades. And Iris, their related caretaker, loved them like they were her own, and they in return.
Enter William, charismatic high school English teacher. The kids loved his different style of teaching, and he relished it; however the school administrators weren't convinced. Teenage girls would dress a little extra special for his class, especially Lucy who was easy to impress. Charlotte was not so pleased with his class her junior year, when she realized he wasn't even teaching the vocabulary they needed for the SAT exams. She could care less about him and transferred out of his class. The following year Lucy drew William not only as a teacher but as her Prince Charming.
So as the school year ended in May of 1969, Lucy ran away with William to rural Pennsylvania, so he could teach his heart out in a progressive school without rules, while Lucy kept house in the middle of no where, isolated from friends, family and civilization. She loved William right? That's all she needed, right?
After months of being alone day after day Lucy grew bored. William would never take her anywhere. Every time she brought it up he would get angry. She was a minor, barely 17, and William was 30 years old. She needed to go back home. But how?
There is so, so much more to this story. More about Charlotte's life, more about Lucy and William, even about Iris. And of course, secrets are relieved.
You must read this book. Mesmerizing yes, and haunting. A few mentions of events in the news during that year of 1969, particularly the gruesome murders committed by Charles Manson and his bevy of followers in California.
Haunting is the one word that sums it up. But I can't say why.
Thank you to Netgalley, the most wonderful place ever, and Algonquin Publishers for the privilege of reading this advanced copy.
I tried to stop reading it a few times, actually, but how could I; that bible or prayer verse kept popping up in the back of my head, "There, but the Grace of God, go me." It wasn't exactly the same but it was close enough. Funny thing though, I didn't notice it for a long time until I was already gripped by the story of two teenage girls without parents, in 1969. Summer of love about to happen in a big way, for so many, in big and small ways. We didn't know it yet, but we sure felt it's pull. Wow, and it was exactly around this time in the school year, May, when every kid in high school is tingling with anticipation. LET ME OUT!
For Lucy and Charlotte, the two sisters left in the care of a "distant relative," at the ages of 5 and almost 7, respectively, after their parents were killed in a supper-club fire, were no different really. They each had their own dreams for that summer: Charlotte, the older but more introverted sister had studied like crazy the last two years and successfully won a scholarship to Brandeis to become a vet. She was pretty, smart and confident but hardly believed any one said that about her!
Lucy, the real extrovert, had trouble concentrating in school. She wasn't dumb, just too busy, distracted; there were so many things to think about than homework and grades. And Iris, their related caretaker, loved them like they were her own, and they in return.
Enter William, charismatic high school English teacher. The kids loved his different style of teaching, and he relished it; however the school administrators weren't convinced. Teenage girls would dress a little extra special for his class, especially Lucy who was easy to impress. Charlotte was not so pleased with his class her junior year, when she realized he wasn't even teaching the vocabulary they needed for the SAT exams. She could care less about him and transferred out of his class. The following year Lucy drew William not only as a teacher but as her Prince Charming.
So as the school year ended in May of 1969, Lucy ran away with William to rural Pennsylvania, so he could teach his heart out in a progressive school without rules, while Lucy kept house in the middle of no where, isolated from friends, family and civilization. She loved William right? That's all she needed, right?
After months of being alone day after day Lucy grew bored. William would never take her anywhere. Every time she brought it up he would get angry. She was a minor, barely 17, and William was 30 years old. She needed to go back home. But how?
There is so, so much more to this story. More about Charlotte's life, more about Lucy and William, even about Iris. And of course, secrets are relieved.
You must read this book. Mesmerizing yes, and haunting. A few mentions of events in the news during that year of 1969, particularly the gruesome murders committed by Charles Manson and his bevy of followers in California.
Haunting is the one word that sums it up. But I can't say why.
Thank you to Netgalley, the most wonderful place ever, and Algonquin Publishers for the privilege of reading this advanced copy.
October 1, 2016
Postscript to review: Caroline Leavitt just did a really interesting and engaging NPR interview about the stories behind the book. I recommend it to see if you might like this book.
Orphaned sisters, an old mother who finds old love, illicit dysfunctional love and murder. This story has the best of soap opera and women’s fiction. Although it’s listed as general and literary fiction, it does not feel literary. The story is told the way you would tell a child a story—straight-forward, one plot point after another. The writing is clean with a consistent measured meter, and I’ll bet if this were read by a woman with a warm, full voice it would make a wonderful audio book. In fact, I might even prefer to hear it that way. I like being “told” stories and I heard a narrator’s warm voice as I read this in a two-day binge.
Orphaned sisters, an old mother who finds old love, illicit dysfunctional love and murder. This story has the best of soap opera and women’s fiction. Although it’s listed as general and literary fiction, it does not feel literary. The story is told the way you would tell a child a story—straight-forward, one plot point after another. The writing is clean with a consistent measured meter, and I’ll bet if this were read by a woman with a warm, full voice it would make a wonderful audio book. In fact, I might even prefer to hear it that way. I like being “told” stories and I heard a narrator’s warm voice as I read this in a two-day binge.
November 12, 2016
GREAT novel! A Cruel Beautiful World was extremely addictive. The characters were richly drawn and easy to fall in love with. Wasn't sure what to expect from this novel and it turned out to be an intense, pleasant surprise. I absolutely recommend it! I know I'll be thinking about this one for awhile. Nicely done Ms. Leavitt. Nearly a 5 star read .
November 23, 2017
Cruel Beautiful World is stunning and beautiful. And cruel. So devastating that at times I gasped out loud. I loved how fully realized and complicated the characters are - Iris, Lucy and Charlotte and the way each of them tries to find a fuller, bigger life. I love Leavitt's writing. I love the way it ended, so true to the story. An excellent, page-turning novel.
November 7, 2016
I've seen this book compared to The Girls in several places, which strikes me as curious because I think they had very little in common other than the fact that it took place against the backdrop of the Manson trials.
And yet, this is basically the book that I was hoping for when I picked up The Girls.
It begins with Lucy Gold, a sixteen-year-old girl who has made the decision to run away from home with her English teacher, William Lallo. Lucy and her older sister Charlotte have been living with their adoptive mother, Iris, in Waltham, MA, since their parents died with they were four and five. They know very little about Iris, other than that she is much older--into her sixties when they arrive--and that they are told, vaguely, that she is related in some way. Lucy is a daydreamy girl, she wants to be a writer and she struggles in school. For many years she relied on Charlotte to help her get by, but Charlotte is focusing more time on her own needs--getting into Brandeis to study veterinary medicine--and Lucy begins looking for affection and attention in other places. William, whose unorthodox teaching methods have gotten him on the bad side of the administration, praises her writing and she begins to feel drawn to him. By the time the last day of school rolls around, they have hatched a plan to run away to rural Pennsylvania to begin their life together.
As you might expect, Lucy's life in Pennsylvania is significantly less satisfying than she'd hoped. Because she's a minor and she's crossed state lines, William forbids her from leaving their house and from interacting with anyone else. Wait, he tells her. She will be 18 soon and they won't have to hide their love anymore, and that's when their real life will begin. She feels isolated and begins to fixate on news stories about the Manson murders and other violent stories happening closer to her new home.
Meanwhile, Iris and Charlotte are devastated. As Charlotte prepares to leave for college, the two struggle to understand where Lucy might have gone and why. Were there signs that they missed? Charlotte especially wonders if there was something she should have done differently.
The chapters alternate point of view, shifting between Lucy, Iris, Charlotte, and Patrick--a young man Lucy meets in Pennsylvania. As time passes and their lives begin to change, their backstory is gradually filled in. Leavitt does a wonderful job building complex, dimensional characters who are hurting and hoping and constantly growing. All three women are beautifully empathetic, in their own particular ways (I felt like much of Patrick's story could have been excised and we wouldn't have lost much, but that's just me). Even though we don't get William's point of view, he feels like a real person and not just a caricature of a bad guy. Leavitt does a spectacular job building tension, as my heart was in my throat for almost the entire second half of the story, just waiting to find out what would happen next. And the writing is filled with genuine emotion and engagement, not just a lot of supposedly clever metaphors and adjectives. It's a phenomenal book, and I highly recommend it.
And yet, this is basically the book that I was hoping for when I picked up The Girls.
It begins with Lucy Gold, a sixteen-year-old girl who has made the decision to run away from home with her English teacher, William Lallo. Lucy and her older sister Charlotte have been living with their adoptive mother, Iris, in Waltham, MA, since their parents died with they were four and five. They know very little about Iris, other than that she is much older--into her sixties when they arrive--and that they are told, vaguely, that she is related in some way. Lucy is a daydreamy girl, she wants to be a writer and she struggles in school. For many years she relied on Charlotte to help her get by, but Charlotte is focusing more time on her own needs--getting into Brandeis to study veterinary medicine--and Lucy begins looking for affection and attention in other places. William, whose unorthodox teaching methods have gotten him on the bad side of the administration, praises her writing and she begins to feel drawn to him. By the time the last day of school rolls around, they have hatched a plan to run away to rural Pennsylvania to begin their life together.
As you might expect, Lucy's life in Pennsylvania is significantly less satisfying than she'd hoped. Because she's a minor and she's crossed state lines, William forbids her from leaving their house and from interacting with anyone else. Wait, he tells her. She will be 18 soon and they won't have to hide their love anymore, and that's when their real life will begin. She feels isolated and begins to fixate on news stories about the Manson murders and other violent stories happening closer to her new home.
Meanwhile, Iris and Charlotte are devastated. As Charlotte prepares to leave for college, the two struggle to understand where Lucy might have gone and why. Were there signs that they missed? Charlotte especially wonders if there was something she should have done differently.
The chapters alternate point of view, shifting between Lucy, Iris, Charlotte, and Patrick--a young man Lucy meets in Pennsylvania. As time passes and their lives begin to change, their backstory is gradually filled in. Leavitt does a wonderful job building complex, dimensional characters who are hurting and hoping and constantly growing. All three women are beautifully empathetic, in their own particular ways (I felt like much of Patrick's story could have been excised and we wouldn't have lost much, but that's just me). Even though we don't get William's point of view, he feels like a real person and not just a caricature of a bad guy. Leavitt does a spectacular job building tension, as my heart was in my throat for almost the entire second half of the story, just waiting to find out what would happen next. And the writing is filled with genuine emotion and engagement, not just a lot of supposedly clever metaphors and adjectives. It's a phenomenal book, and I highly recommend it.
October 3, 2016
Cruel Beautiful World is a book filled with so many stories within stories and themes I'm not sure how the author, Caroline Leavitt, managed to incorporate them all so organically and seamlessly into one book.
Lucy is 16 years old and has run away with her high school English teacher. Though her sister, Charlotte, and her guardian, Iris, do everything in their power to find her and bring her home, Lucy remains missing and the weeks turn to months.
As Lucy remains missing, we learn a lot about Iris, the only relative offering to care for Lucy and Charlotte after they are orphaned. We also see how, despite the awful sense of loss, life goes on.
Meanwhile, Lucy has, predictably, become disillusioned with her new life as William's hidden girlfriend. Even as she begins to fear and resent William's now-controlling ways, she begins to tempt fate in an effort to maintain/regain her sense of self and independence.
This is the condensed, simplified version, of course. This book really has a lot going on. The remarkable thing is that it never feels like it's too much. The pacing is what I refer to as a steady page turner. It didn't make heart race or keep me at the edge of my seat but I found it difficult to put down.
3.5/5 stars
Thanks to Algonquin Books for proving me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Lucy is 16 years old and has run away with her high school English teacher. Though her sister, Charlotte, and her guardian, Iris, do everything in their power to find her and bring her home, Lucy remains missing and the weeks turn to months.
As Lucy remains missing, we learn a lot about Iris, the only relative offering to care for Lucy and Charlotte after they are orphaned. We also see how, despite the awful sense of loss, life goes on.
Meanwhile, Lucy has, predictably, become disillusioned with her new life as William's hidden girlfriend. Even as she begins to fear and resent William's now-controlling ways, she begins to tempt fate in an effort to maintain/regain her sense of self and independence.
This is the condensed, simplified version, of course. This book really has a lot going on. The remarkable thing is that it never feels like it's too much. The pacing is what I refer to as a steady page turner. It didn't make heart race or keep me at the edge of my seat but I found it difficult to put down.
3.5/5 stars
Thanks to Algonquin Books for proving me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 30, 2016
This is a novel about three women. Lucy and Charlotte, sisters who are orphaned at a young age and Iris, a 'distant' relative who puts her own life on hold to adopt them and bring them up. Previously married but never having never had children of her own, Iris soon comes to love the girls as her own. The novel opens in 1969, with a backdrop of communes, free love, protests, the Vietnam war and the Manson family trial. Charlotte, the older, responsible sister is in her final year of school and getting ready to leave for college. Lucy is 16 and restless, hating school and not knowing what she wants to do with her life. When she falls in love with the handsome, cool teacher at school, the offer to run away with him and become a writer seems like the start of an exciting adventure to her. However, she soon finds she has left one boring life to move to another where she must hide until she is 18 and can legally marry and stay isolated at home to keep house and try to write. In the meantime Iris and Charlotte are besides themselves with worry over Lucy and what has become of her.
I found the novel fairly slow moving for the first half but then became engrossed in the hunt to find out what happened to Lucy. Caroline Leavitt has captured the essence of these women beautifully. Along the way we get to know them well and see the way in which love and responsibility has shaped them, enabling them to grow and find what it is they need from life. An interesting thought-provoking novel.
With thanks to Netgalley and the Algonquin for a digital copy of the book to read and review
I found the novel fairly slow moving for the first half but then became engrossed in the hunt to find out what happened to Lucy. Caroline Leavitt has captured the essence of these women beautifully. Along the way we get to know them well and see the way in which love and responsibility has shaped them, enabling them to grow and find what it is they need from life. An interesting thought-provoking novel.
With thanks to Netgalley and the Algonquin for a digital copy of the book to read and review
August 25, 2020
Another 5 star read! I made a whole vlog about reading cult books, and alot of my thoughts for this one are in that vlog: https://youtu.be/FbrXW_SokMQ
My best friend Gwen, told me to read this book and I'm glad I took her word for it. Even though its historical fiction, its told in the 60s and 70s during the hippie era, and Caroline concocted the most amazing characters for this book. This is a taboo romance about a 16 year old girl, who runs off with her school teacher without telling anyone. Turns out, he is super controlling, and she is pretty much locked up in a house trying to get away. We also are reading about her adopted mother, Iris, and I LOVED IRIS SO MUCH. Her story broke my heart and I was rooting for her throughout the whole book. This book was honestly extremely thrilling to me and super emotional - I picked up about 5 other books by this author at my library and cannot wait to read them!
My best friend Gwen, told me to read this book and I'm glad I took her word for it. Even though its historical fiction, its told in the 60s and 70s during the hippie era, and Caroline concocted the most amazing characters for this book. This is a taboo romance about a 16 year old girl, who runs off with her school teacher without telling anyone. Turns out, he is super controlling, and she is pretty much locked up in a house trying to get away. We also are reading about her adopted mother, Iris, and I LOVED IRIS SO MUCH. Her story broke my heart and I was rooting for her throughout the whole book. This book was honestly extremely thrilling to me and super emotional - I picked up about 5 other books by this author at my library and cannot wait to read them!
October 21, 2017
It was ok . . . maybe 2 1/2 stars but not quite the "seductive page-turner that ripples with an undercurrent of suspense" that The Boston Globe claimed it was!
I liked the story all right, but it was easy to put down and disappointing. The book was billed a coming-of-age novel about two sisters and it simply wasn't that. I felt like I was reading a romance novel -- all plot, not much character development; I never felt a connection with Lucy, Iris, or Charlotte which is unlike me as a reader. Even the attempts at connecting to the time period like the Manson references and the protests seemed shallow and undeveloped-- sorta just dropped in like the author was trying to be implicit but that it didn't work. The writing wasn't very good either -- i.e. page 99: "She was surprised . . . She wondered. . . She remembered. . . She yearned . . . " -- the four sentences of that paragraph all start the same and much of the book is written this way. Whoa! Way too many "She VERB" sentences.
Overall, I felt like I was reading one of the simple Romance novels I used to read when I was 20 or a YA book with a misleading cover. I'm surprised at the high scores. I usually agree with the average score, but not this time.
I liked the story all right, but it was easy to put down and disappointing. The book was billed a coming-of-age novel about two sisters and it simply wasn't that. I felt like I was reading a romance novel -- all plot, not much character development; I never felt a connection with Lucy, Iris, or Charlotte which is unlike me as a reader. Even the attempts at connecting to the time period like the Manson references and the protests seemed shallow and undeveloped-- sorta just dropped in like the author was trying to be implicit but that it didn't work. The writing wasn't very good either -- i.e. page 99: "She was surprised . . . She wondered. . . She remembered. . . She yearned . . . " -- the four sentences of that paragraph all start the same and much of the book is written this way. Whoa! Way too many "She VERB" sentences.
Overall, I felt like I was reading one of the simple Romance novels I used to read when I was 20 or a YA book with a misleading cover. I'm surprised at the high scores. I usually agree with the average score, but not this time.
Read
July 14, 2017Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt has been difficult for me to review. I finished it a few days ago, and since then, I’ve been ruminating on it.
In its essence, Cruel Beautiful World is a novel about family and love. But the horrible underside of humanity is afoot as well. Yes, it takes place during the same time as the Manson murders, but that isn’t the true specter that hangs over the characters’ psyches. The true roots of the novel’s conflict lie in the question: How well can we really know the ones we love?
The climax and denouement of Cruel Beautiful World answer this question two ways. Without giving you any spoilers, I’ll say that one represents the beautiful and one represents the cruel.
Plot-wise, Cruel Beautiful World kept me guessing, but it also made me think. The prose is full of detail and texture. Leavitt uses concrete imagery to convey a strong sense of time period and setting.
Check out this section of character description to see how Leavitt deftly weaves history into the narrative:
“Not only did he support the antiwar movement, but he’d marched in Boston a few months ago and even got to talk to Abbie Hoffman, who was there giving a speech. William wore a Not-So-Silent Spring button on his jacket lapel, a dot of yellow imprinted with an upraised red fist that held a sprig of greenery. ‘Hey, hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?’ he chanted, and then he told them the answer, writing on the board the Vietnam death toll for 1968—16,899—a number so staggeringly high that the kids shifted uneasily in their seats, because they knew there was a draft. The boys could be called up one day. Their lives could end, just like that. ‘Not if you resist the draft,’ William assured them. He draw a map of Canada on the blackboard and tapped the chalk on it. ‘Or go here,’” (Leavitt).
Holy characterization, Batman!
Over all, Cruel Beautiful World is not a book of easy answers. There is no good without the bad (and sometimes vice versa?). I recommend this book to readers who enjoy family novels with a tinge of darkness. Cruel Beautiful World is full of emotion. I think I cried at least twice, and my heart is as black as my coffee.
Disclaimer: I received a digital ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
In its essence, Cruel Beautiful World is a novel about family and love. But the horrible underside of humanity is afoot as well. Yes, it takes place during the same time as the Manson murders, but that isn’t the true specter that hangs over the characters’ psyches. The true roots of the novel’s conflict lie in the question: How well can we really know the ones we love?
The climax and denouement of Cruel Beautiful World answer this question two ways. Without giving you any spoilers, I’ll say that one represents the beautiful and one represents the cruel.
Plot-wise, Cruel Beautiful World kept me guessing, but it also made me think. The prose is full of detail and texture. Leavitt uses concrete imagery to convey a strong sense of time period and setting.
Check out this section of character description to see how Leavitt deftly weaves history into the narrative:
“Not only did he support the antiwar movement, but he’d marched in Boston a few months ago and even got to talk to Abbie Hoffman, who was there giving a speech. William wore a Not-So-Silent Spring button on his jacket lapel, a dot of yellow imprinted with an upraised red fist that held a sprig of greenery. ‘Hey, hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?’ he chanted, and then he told them the answer, writing on the board the Vietnam death toll for 1968—16,899—a number so staggeringly high that the kids shifted uneasily in their seats, because they knew there was a draft. The boys could be called up one day. Their lives could end, just like that. ‘Not if you resist the draft,’ William assured them. He draw a map of Canada on the blackboard and tapped the chalk on it. ‘Or go here,’” (Leavitt).
Holy characterization, Batman!
Over all, Cruel Beautiful World is not a book of easy answers. There is no good without the bad (and sometimes vice versa?). I recommend this book to readers who enjoy family novels with a tinge of darkness. Cruel Beautiful World is full of emotion. I think I cried at least twice, and my heart is as black as my coffee.
Disclaimer: I received a digital ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 9, 2020
"Cruel Beautiful World" by Caroline Leavitt was a book I had trouble putting down!
The late 60's and early 70's were turbulent times with reckless individuals making poor decisions and living on the edge! A teenage student with a crush on her English teacher isn't that unusual to imagine but as this relationship blossoms it's clearly a crush on "steroids"! However, there is so much more to this book than this one relationship. So much more!
There is strong character development and a tender backstory of Iris, Charlotte & Lucy, the three main characters. It was easy to love each of these woman who were so very different from one another but loved one another so deeply. And, then there's William....what can I say other than read this book yourself and you'll definitely know where I'm coming from! This author knows how to create characters and weave their stories together so the reader is drawn in immediately! BOOM!!
There were so many emotions at odds within the covers of this novel that I almost felt like whiplash was setting in: friendship vs relationship, infatuation vs love, trust vs vulnerability, loneliness vs isolation, restlessness vs fear, possessiveness vs obsession, and influence vs manipulation. I loved the wild ride!
I reflected on this book for quite a while. You know what I'm talking about! The way a book lingers with you even when you're reading another book and you find it hard to concentrate and your thoughts wander to the one you've already read and it keeps creeping in. Yep, that's this book!
Thank you, Caroline Leavitt, for the eclectic characters and depth of story that keeps me reflecting back to it to this day!
The late 60's and early 70's were turbulent times with reckless individuals making poor decisions and living on the edge! A teenage student with a crush on her English teacher isn't that unusual to imagine but as this relationship blossoms it's clearly a crush on "steroids"! However, there is so much more to this book than this one relationship. So much more!
There is strong character development and a tender backstory of Iris, Charlotte & Lucy, the three main characters. It was easy to love each of these woman who were so very different from one another but loved one another so deeply. And, then there's William....what can I say other than read this book yourself and you'll definitely know where I'm coming from! This author knows how to create characters and weave their stories together so the reader is drawn in immediately! BOOM!!
There were so many emotions at odds within the covers of this novel that I almost felt like whiplash was setting in: friendship vs relationship, infatuation vs love, trust vs vulnerability, loneliness vs isolation, restlessness vs fear, possessiveness vs obsession, and influence vs manipulation. I loved the wild ride!
I reflected on this book for quite a while. You know what I'm talking about! The way a book lingers with you even when you're reading another book and you find it hard to concentrate and your thoughts wander to the one you've already read and it keeps creeping in. Yep, that's this book!
Thank you, Caroline Leavitt, for the eclectic characters and depth of story that keeps me reflecting back to it to this day!
October 15, 2016
This beautifully written story flows like warm water. It didn't have a ton of suspense until about half way through when I became concerned for the safety of one of the sisters and then shortly after for the other sister. The story was engaging and compelling, mostly centered on the lives of these two girls and their guardian Iris. It's a sad and haunting story and a bit heartbreaking. I listened to the audio and the narration was perfect. Her gentle voice was exactly what this story needed!
November 6, 2016
There is one huge shocking moment in this book, at least for me, that nearly wrecked me and while I wasn't loving the book anyway, it probably knocked my rating down from 3.5 to 3. Not even sure why it had to happen. I had to keep reading of course but overall I wouldn't really recommend it.
December 10, 2021
I'm getting so lazy since covid when my library was closed and I just downloaded books. Now when a book is *only* available paper-copy in the library and I have to wait months for it, well, I really really have to trust my Goodreads friends that it's worth it.
You've never let me down.
My husband made the comment, "The title sounds like a soap opera" and in a way it is, the action never stops. We check in with this person, we zig to the past, oh no he didn't!, what is that person's story? Leavitt leaves no loose strings, no red herrings. But it's not a thriller or mystery, there's just lots going on.
While it's one character's (Charlotte's) coming of age story, I really liked Iris's much better. Hope I can cope with all the challenges of aging as well.
I'm not real happy with that cover. There were so many comments about Lucy's frizzy hair and Charlotte's dark hair that it can't be either one of them.
Lucy packed her elephant bells!
You've never let me down.
My husband made the comment, "The title sounds like a soap opera" and in a way it is, the action never stops. We check in with this person, we zig to the past, oh no he didn't!, what is that person's story? Leavitt leaves no loose strings, no red herrings. But it's not a thriller or mystery, there's just lots going on.
While it's one character's (Charlotte's) coming of age story, I really liked Iris's much better. Hope I can cope with all the challenges of aging as well.
I'm not real happy with that cover. There were so many comments about Lucy's frizzy hair and Charlotte's dark hair that it can't be either one of them.
Lucy packed her elephant bells!
August 16, 2017
Completely captivating look at teenage angst in the free love era. The setting was isolating and I could feel the loneliness of Lucy and the quiet desperation of Charlotte. The family backstory was incredibly poignant, so sad and hopeful, and Leavitt did a wonderful job of bringing all the characters, even the side characters (like the farmer!) to life in heartbreaking ways. The plot was surprising and the end was emotional and fitting. Highly recommend this book!
December 13, 2019
"Lucy runs away with her high school teacher, William, on a Friday, the last day of school, a June morning shiny with heat" (1). What an intriguing first sentence that could easily follow with a second sentence such as "And then the murders began.." Creepy, yes? Too bad this book isn't at all! Wiley Cash (whoever that is) professes on the cover that this book is "gorgeous and seductive," which I couldn't care less that I didn't view this novel in a sexual way, but I was extremely disappointed that this Cash character promised me a "terrifying" "pulse-pounding" novel and what I got was anti-climatic, flowery, and unnecessarily lengthy.
Lucy running off with her bizarre high school English teacher is really interesting. You know what isn't interesting? Reading about all of the boring characters who can't function normally in life. We have Charlotte, who can barely talk to the opposite sex and apparently is so dumb she needs to live in the library to pass undergraduate classes in the 1970s. We have Iris, the aunt/sister who gave up travelling the world to fix her father's mistake of breeding with a much younger woman than dying after she spent her life serving as a beard for her gay husband. Then, there's Patrick (who is so boring I thought his name was Peter and someone on this site corrected me. Sorry! But that furthers my point!), who is living in fruit stand purgatory because he encouraged his wife not to go to the doctor when she was feeling badly, then she died of a heart condition. I got really tired of all of these characters living in suffering limbo, then Lucy and William end up doing so as well. Who cares?!
The most "terrifying" parts to me were the type of teacher William was, one who encouraged his students to ask him inappropriate questions like if he had ever smoked pot, refused to teach the curriculum, and had sex with his students. Sure, he gets controlling in his relationship with Lucy and I almost lost it when he told her they wouldn't have a TV in their house, but none of that compares to how messed up he was as a real authority figure.
The other "pulse-pounding" part of the book was the description of the alternative school William worked for where students could choose to go to class, do everything collaboratively, apparently learn to shoot guns, flip off their teachers, and read picture books as seniors so that the ones who struggled to read wouldn't feel shamed. Why aren't these scenes their own horror book?! I was disappointed that there wasn't more to why William got fired besides telling a kid to shut up.
The tensions between Lucy and William escalate as she's stuck hiding in his home until she turns eighteen, resulting in her getting shot. After that, I was completely lost. William's side to Charlotte makes her question if Lucy wrote fiction, but readers weren't reading her journal; we read about her writing in it, so it didn't cause questioning the way it should have over if Lucy was lying the whole time. When William told Charlotte he loved her first, I thought she would run away with him and the whole continuous, meaningless mentions of the Manson girls throughout the novel (to remind us it was the 70s, perhaps? I get it...) would have made sense, but she doesn't care and he kills himself. Every time I began to think Leavitt might be a secret genius, like Lucy might have been lying or William was like Charles Manson, nothing ever came together and I was left being really annoyed that the book wouldn't just end.
I would recommend quitting reading after Lucy dies. Basically, you'll be forced to read about old people sex, people in despair finding brief comfort, and Charlotte worrying over her grades.
Lucy running off with her bizarre high school English teacher is really interesting. You know what isn't interesting? Reading about all of the boring characters who can't function normally in life. We have Charlotte, who can barely talk to the opposite sex and apparently is so dumb she needs to live in the library to pass undergraduate classes in the 1970s. We have Iris, the aunt/sister who gave up travelling the world to fix her father's mistake of breeding with a much younger woman than dying after she spent her life serving as a beard for her gay husband. Then, there's Patrick (who is so boring I thought his name was Peter and someone on this site corrected me. Sorry! But that furthers my point!), who is living in fruit stand purgatory because he encouraged his wife not to go to the doctor when she was feeling badly, then she died of a heart condition. I got really tired of all of these characters living in suffering limbo, then Lucy and William end up doing so as well. Who cares?!
The most "terrifying" parts to me were the type of teacher William was, one who encouraged his students to ask him inappropriate questions like if he had ever smoked pot, refused to teach the curriculum, and had sex with his students. Sure, he gets controlling in his relationship with Lucy and I almost lost it when he told her they wouldn't have a TV in their house, but none of that compares to how messed up he was as a real authority figure.
The other "pulse-pounding" part of the book was the description of the alternative school William worked for where students could choose to go to class, do everything collaboratively, apparently learn to shoot guns, flip off their teachers, and read picture books as seniors so that the ones who struggled to read wouldn't feel shamed. Why aren't these scenes their own horror book?! I was disappointed that there wasn't more to why William got fired besides telling a kid to shut up.
The tensions between Lucy and William escalate as she's stuck hiding in his home until she turns eighteen, resulting in her getting shot. After that, I was completely lost. William's side to Charlotte makes her question if Lucy wrote fiction, but readers weren't reading her journal; we read about her writing in it, so it didn't cause questioning the way it should have over if Lucy was lying the whole time. When William told Charlotte he loved her first, I thought she would run away with him and the whole continuous, meaningless mentions of the Manson girls throughout the novel (to remind us it was the 70s, perhaps? I get it...) would have made sense, but she doesn't care and he kills himself. Every time I began to think Leavitt might be a secret genius, like Lucy might have been lying or William was like Charles Manson, nothing ever came together and I was left being really annoyed that the book wouldn't just end.
I would recommend quitting reading after Lucy dies. Basically, you'll be forced to read about old people sex, people in despair finding brief comfort, and Charlotte worrying over her grades.
January 3, 2022
UPDATE -- January 2022
This book has my whole heart. Just as good the second time around. And it's a darn good thing I did re-read it because I had definitely forgotten some of the finer points to the plot. My review from when I read it the first time still stands. This will go down as one of my favorite books of all time.
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April 2016 review
This is almost one of those stories that is hard to review. It's such a whirlwind and I inhaled it in just one day. There's something about the vintage feel of the artwork on the cover and the time period of the story that is haunting and evocative. The characters in Cruel Beautiful World definitely left me breathless. It seemed so real set against the backdrop of the late 60's and early 70's. From fashion to war to Mason and his girls on trial I felt that Lucy's, Charlotte's and Iris's story came alive.
Lucy is in love with her teacher. The problem is their age difference. Lucy is just 16 years old, almost 17. She secretly runs way with him to hide in rural Pennsylvania until she turns 18. The fairytale of love and being an adult is overshadowed by loneliness and isolation. While William goes off to school Lucy is stuck in their deserted clapboard house to read, write and care for the chickens. Lucy quickly realizes that she is not happy and wants to call home. William refuses to let her do anything. He wants to "protect" her. He loves her. But soon Lucy finds a way to start working at a local farm stand and befriends the owner. Lucy tries convincing William that she misses her family, she wants to get her GED, she wants to learn to drive, maybe move to a bigger city but William refuses to listen. I became so enthralled with Lucy, William. and Patrick. I really wanted Lucy to get a happy ending. Lucy and Patrick were by far my favorite characters. Each character had a healthy backstory and quirks that made them so believable. Reading about Iris and her story was so interesting. I didn't think I would quite understand her as a character but once her storyline opened up I was pulling for her to find happiness.
I wish I could say that Cruel Beautiful World had a happy ending and maybe in some ways it did. Instead of rainbows and unicorns, I was smacked with reality and that felt more powerful than anything I could have hoped for.
I received this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book has my whole heart. Just as good the second time around. And it's a darn good thing I did re-read it because I had definitely forgotten some of the finer points to the plot. My review from when I read it the first time still stands. This will go down as one of my favorite books of all time.
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April 2016 review
This is almost one of those stories that is hard to review. It's such a whirlwind and I inhaled it in just one day. There's something about the vintage feel of the artwork on the cover and the time period of the story that is haunting and evocative. The characters in Cruel Beautiful World definitely left me breathless. It seemed so real set against the backdrop of the late 60's and early 70's. From fashion to war to Mason and his girls on trial I felt that Lucy's, Charlotte's and Iris's story came alive.
Lucy is in love with her teacher. The problem is their age difference. Lucy is just 16 years old, almost 17. She secretly runs way with him to hide in rural Pennsylvania until she turns 18. The fairytale of love and being an adult is overshadowed by loneliness and isolation. While William goes off to school Lucy is stuck in their deserted clapboard house to read, write and care for the chickens. Lucy quickly realizes that she is not happy and wants to call home. William refuses to let her do anything. He wants to "protect" her. He loves her. But soon Lucy finds a way to start working at a local farm stand and befriends the owner. Lucy tries convincing William that she misses her family, she wants to get her GED, she wants to learn to drive, maybe move to a bigger city but William refuses to listen. I became so enthralled with Lucy, William. and Patrick. I really wanted Lucy to get a happy ending. Lucy and Patrick were by far my favorite characters. Each character had a healthy backstory and quirks that made them so believable. Reading about Iris and her story was so interesting. I didn't think I would quite understand her as a character but once her storyline opened up I was pulling for her to find happiness.
I wish I could say that Cruel Beautiful World had a happy ending and maybe in some ways it did. Instead of rainbows and unicorns, I was smacked with reality and that felt more powerful than anything I could have hoped for.
I received this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 2, 2016
The last two days have been a blur reading Cruel Beautiful World. It as if someone tapped on my shoulder and whispered this story in my ear. Immediately connected to the characters in this phenomenal new novel, I could hear their voices, picture their faces. I could not escape from the stories within the stories. It is 1969 and Charlotte and Lucy come to Waltham, MA to live with Iris, their Mother-like, Aunt-like, Half- sister caretaker - after they are tragically orphaned. Two beautiful little girls entering a new life. Iris, who always dreamed of love and family finds raising these little girls late in life a blessing she could have never fully imagined. Years later, seduced by the idea of what grown-up means Lucy disappears. Charlotte, always the big sister, who has cared for Lucy’s every need turns her back for a moment as she desperately plans her college future and “poof” - she is gone, just like that. And so begins the next story, Lucy’s coming of age in the time of “free love,” realizing too late that it is not so free after all. The love, friendship, devotion and family ties of these characters is extraordinary. The hints of what is coming next is both shocking and mesmerizing. While you cheer and hope for all their well being the reader is magically lost in this beautiful prose written by author Caroline Leavitt. This may be her best novel yet, or do I say that every time? Highly recommend Cruel Beautiful World and thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this fantastic new novel.
October 6, 2016
I read this entire book in one day. I love this author. There is just something about her writing that just sucks me right in.
Lucy and Charlotte come to live with Iris when they are very young and orphaned. The story follows the girls as they both grow up and take their own paths in life. Lucy makes a life altering decision when she decides to run away to rural Pennsylvania with her 30 year old teacher.
This sets the book in motion as Charlottes and Iris look for Lucy and ultimately what changes the course of their lives too.
Caroline just has a way with words. You can't help but relate to the characters and even find parts of yourself along the way. She writes with such emotion and you just know when you finally come the end it might not be a happy ending but it is going to be OK.
Lucy and Charlotte come to live with Iris when they are very young and orphaned. The story follows the girls as they both grow up and take their own paths in life. Lucy makes a life altering decision when she decides to run away to rural Pennsylvania with her 30 year old teacher.
This sets the book in motion as Charlottes and Iris look for Lucy and ultimately what changes the course of their lives too.
Caroline just has a way with words. You can't help but relate to the characters and even find parts of yourself along the way. She writes with such emotion and you just know when you finally come the end it might not be a happy ending but it is going to be OK.
November 29, 2016
If I'm being generous I would set the rating at 2.5 stars.
Not overly impressive. Easily forgettable plot and very flat writing style.
I still am trying to grasp exactly what the point of all of this was and why, exactly, we needed the inner most musings and reflections of five different characters along the way. I guess it all seemed a little redundant which annoyed me. I did find this one, slightly deeper, quote;
"Sometimes you couldn't fix things, you couldn't make them better, and you had to live with that. It didn't make you a bad person, the way she had thought. It made you human."
The one good thing I can say about it is that the copy I got was fairly new and thus, it smelled amazing.
Overall; an alluring but mostly insipid read. Not a complete waste of time but there are better options out there.
Not overly impressive. Easily forgettable plot and very flat writing style.
I still am trying to grasp exactly what the point of all of this was and why, exactly, we needed the inner most musings and reflections of five different characters along the way. I guess it all seemed a little redundant which annoyed me. I did find this one, slightly deeper, quote;
"Sometimes you couldn't fix things, you couldn't make them better, and you had to live with that. It didn't make you a bad person, the way she had thought. It made you human."
The one good thing I can say about it is that the copy I got was fairly new and thus, it smelled amazing.
Overall; an alluring but mostly insipid read. Not a complete waste of time but there are better options out there.
October 7, 2016
Haunting and beautifully written novel. This novel stays with you and the characters are so well developed you feel you are missing an old friend or an enemy you can't shake. This book takes place mostly in the early 70's when Charles Manson is a house hold name and his girls are protesting for his release from jail. Hitchhiking is a common way to get around and The Panthers are on college campuses recruiting. The main characters are two sisters who are orphaned and a relative takes them in when they are very young and their lives are all better for it. But when the girls go to high school that's when their lives take a cruel change. Read and see what happens!
December 27, 2021
4.5 stars. Wonderful writing, captivating story.
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