Only Children

by Alison Lurie

On a run-down farm in 1936, over the July 4th weekend, two couples, their two little girls, and the headmistress of the girls' progressive school each face a crisis, revelation, or turning point through a network of understandings and misunderstandings

Genres: Fiction, American, Literary Fiction, The United States Of America, Coming Of Age, Novels

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Alison Stewart Lurie was an American novelist and academic. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1984 novel Foreign Affairs. Although better known as a novelist, she wrote many non-fiction books and articles, particularly on children's literature and the semiotics of dress.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grownups are really unfair . . .

A child's idyllic summer vacation is ruined by the bad behavior of the so-called adults, including two who are carrying on an affair. I found almost all the characters to be not just unlikable, but downright annoying. Had I been level-headed Anna, the event's hostess, I would have wasted no time kicking these childish visitors from my home.

Some guests begin to stink before three days are up!

[Eugenea Pollock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really a surprise; I enjoy Ms. Lurie's work, so I knew it would probably be worth my time. But it delivered SO much more than I was expecting in several ways:
1. The window into the children's imagination (circa 1935) was wonderful and evocative of my own childhood pretend-world fifteen years later. This is probably irrelevant in the techno-environment of later generations.
2. Telling the story of this 4th of July weekend with her brand of irony, often saying the opposite of what is clearly the fact, was a narrative device that I found very effective.
3. Since the action proceeds on two levels (from the perspective of the two 8-yr-olds, Mary Ann and Lolly, and from the adult perspective of their parents), a fascinating contrast is drawn that sometimes reveals the girls to be the more grounded.
4. Wordplay humor born of the literal visualizations of the children made me laugh out loud a time or two, as in an adult argument overheard by one of the girls. One parent hurled an insult at the other to the effect that it was pointless to talk to him because he was always so pig-headed.
5. But then again, the effect of overheard adult conversations could also be casually cruel and painful, as when one of the mothers discussed body image issues pertaining to her daughter.
6. Then there is the question of the title. Does it refer to the fact that the girls have no full-blood siblings? Or is it a comment in the immaturity of the. parents? Or is it something else?

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book by Alison Lurie. 1979.
Boy, can she get into the minds and feelings of children as well as adults!
And the tension among the couples produced by flirting and jealousy is palpable and all too believable.

A long weekend in the Catskills in 1935.

Written in third person, omniscient, yet often trying to be from the perspective of the 9 year old Mary Ann. This doesn't always succeed because it has Mary Ann seeming to explain things like stock markets and communism in simple ways that don't convince me a 9 year old would understand them well enough to do that.

But never mind, Lurie so acutely shows her characters interacting, coming each from their own insecurities and anxieties and hopes and desires. Five adults, two girls, and a teenage boy -- a lot of characters for a short novel but still all of them well drawn.

The fears of the one girl Lolly about which, at the end of the book, seemingly in Mary Ann's mind, it is said that she will probably never outgrow them... Lolly's father is a classical narcissist, and altho he doesn't really intend to hurt anyone, he can't empathize with either his wife or his daughter and both suffer greatly.
Mary Ann's pain upon overhearing her mother and the other women commenting on her appearance being unattractive, yet Lurie shows her managing to "get over" this by the end of the weekend, Mary Ann seemingly having a good sense of self-worth in spite of both parents having quite some personality defects.
The terrible emotional struggle between the teenage son and his father, the son living with his mother the ex-wife... so sad yet all too believable.

Since Lurie herself was 9 in 1935, it stands to reason that some things are drawn from her own childhood. At first I assumed this was a sort of historical novel maybe set in her parents' day, but then worked out it was her very own time [as a child]. Details like the upholstery and engines of the cars, the hot nights with no airco, the styles of bathing suits and other clothing.

151-52:
"Like many persons who hold themselves to a difficult standard of conduct, she read murder mysteries for pleasure and enjoyed the company of sinners."

179: [on "love"]
"When you're in love the world seems to make sense for a little while. All your thoughts and efforts and plans have direction. The same direction. And it beats believing in God, because you can see and know the person you worship. But it's like all religions. It leads to frightful crimes and excesses. Persecution,and self-destruction,and martyrdom. And it keeps you from doing anything else, from caring what goes on in the world, or what happens to anybody except you and one other person." [Anna, who has chosen to remain single and runs a school]

207: [source of title]
"I expect they'll forget the whole thing soon. AFter all, they're only children." [The Southern woman who loves to flirt. Mary Ann's mother.]

[Priscilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that Lurie is one of the best writers of her generation, and I have enjoyed some of her other works, but this one did not age well. It is set in the 1930's during the depression, but it was published in 1979, so maybe that was the point, but these people are just a reminder of the kinds of men women no longer want to marry and the kinds of women they no longer want to be. With the possible exception on Anna, who was the subject of pity for being on her own, a successful professional woman. Good grief, we've come a long way since then, and I'm not interested in revisiting how awful it used to be.

[Noelani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about past and present romance and temptation set in the 1930s Depression Era. The whole story takes place on Anna's farm during the July 4th weekend with romantic secrets and rocky friendships. The two little girl characters remind me of my childhood with my cousins and neighbors, not so much in the sense of experiencing adults having secret affairs and misbehaving, but rather being young, playing make believe, being bored at times and observing the fascination that is adulthood.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good enough, I guess. Kind of pointless.

[David]

"5 Days in July" that make the lyrics of the Blue Rodeo album seem totally pain-free. The reviews below show a huge range of response, from "loved it" to "didn't finish." I liked some of the things about which others complained, especially the alternation in and out of the narrative as perceived by the central children, with their associative leaps of logic and sometimes literal understanding of adult figures of speech. The adults are sexually unstable, with long histories, and they do get drunk which makes their behaviour childish and their diction slurred. In short, there is not always much difference between the 'mature' and the 'immature' and the distinction is not at all a matter of mere age. One of the parents says, late in the story, that the kids will probably forget most of what went wrong on this 4th of July long weekend because they're "only children." By that time, however, the reader should be long aware that (at least if they have read Lurie's earlier work) they have already met these children as adults whose lives are still fractured and plagued by most of the gender wars and social foibles that affected their parents. Anyone who is reading this novel as their first Lurie will miss that level, of course, but many readers will have already seen these 1935 kids in the 1960s as adults. Possibly my favourite of Lurie's so far.

[Char · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stupid,boring and cloying

Makes the same points about human nature over and over and over and over again. It reads like a novella, and morphs into a of a "tellanovlla". I would give it no stars of I could. Stereotypes from the Southern Belle to the womanizer,long suffering husband,long suffering wife and the foibles of grownups viewed through the eyes of their damaged children.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1986 notebook: written largely from a child's pov. The adults gradually act like children, ending in drunkenness.

[Marnie Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish...

[Mairi Byatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, so many parallels to today! Could not help reading it in a southern drawl!
Sad I only discovered the author due to her death, but many more novels to read!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy has this tagline:
Stylish, comic, tender, merciless

All the connotations I want in life.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not her best work. I was disappointed.

[Carrie Cantalupo-Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little obscure book. All the characters are so real and endearing in their own ways. The interactions over one holiday weekend in the country is very reminiscent of my childhood.

[Hana Tiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

courageous implemtation of an idea. Just that I can't get into it at all

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moyen. La seule trouvaille intéressante est la succession des épisodes du monde des adultes et de celui des enfants.

[Alexandra Konopleva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr gut und etwas außergewöhnlich geschrieben, kann zum Lachen bringen. Vergessene Kindergedanken und ganz viel Sommer.

[Martha Alami · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading this novel, I would consider others by this author. However, I can only give 3 stars because I did not think the book had a lot of depth or that there was a story with much plot. I did enjoy her descriptions and the good character development. I felt I knew all the characters by the end but they just didn't do much. Maybe that was the point? since it took place over a Fourth of July vacation, maybe it wS realistic, but guess I wanted a little more. My copy included author information/ biography which stated she based this novel on her childhood. Also that she has taught writing for children which explains the sections involving the imagination and creativity of the children.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slice of life that gives us a glimpse into the worlds of 5 adults and two children. I had a hard time deciding between 3 and 4 stars, mainly because I had a hard time deciding if the characterization of one child, Lolly, was too dramatic or an excellent portrayal of a child who is overwhelmed by the way she experiences the world. In the end, the weekend's activities revealed, but didn't change, anyone's life.

[Carmila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn't read a book by Alison Lurie for a long time, but I still like this author. She seems to be able to get into people's minds whatever their ages: adults and kids alike. I really appreciated the way she takes us into little Mary Ann's mind, witnessing her fears and worries but also her imagination and her thoughts about what she sees among the adults.

[Emjay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two NYC mid Depression couples spend a weekend in the Catskills. Most of the story and a view of that world is told through the perceptions of their 8 year old daughters. A witty satire.

[Sarah Harkness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think I enjoyed this more the second time. I hadn't remembered that it was set in the 1930s, and it made me wonder if the little girl Mary Ann was perhaps based on Alison Lurie's own recollections?

[Christina Cuanalo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a bit of a bore. It is mostly told through a child's eyes.

[Lutfiye Gureli]

This is my favorite book by the author. It's about life of 2 families seen from the eyes of an 8 year old. Thé details brought back memories of my own childhood. I loved it.

[Patricia Tennesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some may enjoy, it was a little spacey for my taste. I wasn't a fan of fairy tales as a child and not so much as an adult either.

[Kathe]

A mostly entertaining tale of two families visiting a mutual friend at her rambling farmhouse over the Fourth of July weekend in 1936. The couples are palpably unsuited to each other, and at the stage of marriage where flirtation could well wind up as adultery. All the characters are clearly delineated and the dialogue is sharp, but the best part is the ruminations of the daughters of the two families, Mary Ann and Lolly, as they observe their parents, er, being grown-ups. The girls don't really understand most of what's going on, but we get a child's-eye view of the proceedings, seen through the lens of fairy tales and folktales, which makes sense, as Lurie taught children's literature for many years.