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Mar 09, 2008

Mello rated it:

Fictional book about venereal disease camps during WWI. Young girls who had tragic one night stands with soldiers are marginilized and dumped in with prostitutes into these camps that treat a womens' body as vectors of disease. I wanted it to piss me off but it came off as a little too easy on this part of history.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Marieke rated it:

There are things that authors do that I don't like:

1. They make their protagonist into their alter ego.
2. They make their protagonist into the oppostite sex from themselves but poorly so.
3. They oversaturate the story with landmarks to show you they really know their stuff.

This novel is guilty of the last two. This author has never been a prostitute. I never have, either, but I think I might be able to write about it better.

Also the book is fille More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2009

Jessica rated it:

As some of you may know, I tend to read some pretty odd-content books. CHARITY GIRL was no exception. Not only was a good read and generally well-written, but it told of a relatively unknown chapter in US history of moral and medical campaigning that lead to the detainment of nearly 30,000 women at over 40 sites around the country.
Having left her home and Russian immigrant mother, Freida Mintz works Jordan Marsh shop girl and is smart and independent. She lives on her own, with her $8 a we More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Kelly_kpb rated it:

I can't decide if I really liked this book or if it was truly disturbing. I love American History. So much so that it was one of my majors in college. I know that history is often rewritten to cover up that which embarrasses or portrays in a negative light, however I cannot believe that something such as this, as recently as in my not so long deceased great-grandmothers' lifetime, I knew nothing about.

During WWI, thousands of young women (some prostitutes, some not) were rounded up More...

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Mar 03, 2011

Zach rated it:

This was a pretty depressing book. Dreams crushed by reality, minimal positive resolution. Maybe, too, I'm affected by the battle between conservative Christian ideals and liberal secularism played out on the pages, in an era when the conservative had the upper hand and abused it to a degree that would make the ACLU's head explode. It's scary to realize how recently America's Puritanical roots had that kind of power and sway. It's also interesting to see how this arch-conservatism backfired More...

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May 07, 2009

Bonnie rated it:

Charity Girl is set during World War I, and tells the story of Frieda Mintz, a young Jewish teenage girl who struggles with a cold and distant mother but has a wonderful and loving father. Unfortunately, things change within the family and Frieda is left alone to be raised by her mother who Frieda feels little connection to. Her mother is left to find a way to support them and takes in sewing jobs but this is not enough to cover their debts. She is approached by an older man who wants to marry F More...

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Sep 13, 2009

Leonard rated it:

Lowenthal is the master of metaphor - clever and original. The metaphors are what I love most about Lowenthal's books. This book (as well as his others) is obviously well-researched - a real strong point, and something that makes the stories all the more interesting and multi-dimensional. Informative about life in a different era. I'm biased as I've known the author since elementary school, but I still think it is a beautiful book.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 31, 2010

Tara rated it:

One of the things that I find disheartening about male authors take on female lead characters is that they tend to portray them either as batty loud mouthed women, that they themselves clearly would not find redeeming, or like little girls-- their own daughter maybe, who long to grow up and become real women. This was certainly an example of the latter.

I found my self vexingly connected to the character, hoping beyond hope that she would find her way through. Despite feeling frus More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 02, 2010

Cassandra rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Oct 05, 2011

Bill rated it:

I did not find this story to be particularly engaging, but I enjoyed learning about a chapter in America that I did not know about. I was surprised to learn that in 1918 America, the government imprisoned women who were deemed to be of low moral character and a public danger due to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. No matter that men—often the carriers of sexually transmitted diseases--were given a pass for engaging equally in casual and frequent sex.

Many, if not most of th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 26, 2011

John rated it:

I admire the pacing and prose style of this book. Lowenthal has a way with words and really allows his feisty female characters rise to the surface. Also, I thought he did a great job of conjuring this period in history with his stylistic choices, without the style dragging down the pacing of the story ... which, from experience, I can say, is a difficult thing to accomplish. I wasn't, however, thrilled with the ending. It builds and builds and then sort of flattens out, as if Lowenthal were More...

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Jan 21, 2012

Robin rated it:

As an historical novel, Charity Girl gets off to a strong start. Jordan Marsh shopgirl living the dream in wartime Boston, meets a handsome doughboy and falls too far for him. We are shocked to discover the historical fact that loose women were rounded up and "quarantined," so long as they were the wrong race, class, and ethnicity. The story sags in the middle under too many of the other girls' stories, and becomes an obvious screenplay treatment. But it manages to hold interest to More...

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Jun 28, 2010

Shawna rated it:

I enjoyed this book but was rather disappointed by how it was all wrapped up. It was established early on that Frieda could drive, not a skill many women had during WWI. However, at the climax, Frieda's drive away escape was positively anticlimactic. I thought that detail could have been better utilized. Also, I was disappointed by how many characters were killed off and rather quickly...it seemed to me just to wrap things up. A good read, but I had hoped for more from Frieda...as it is, al More...

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Jul 13, 2010

Jessi rated it:

First book in a good long while that I didn't finish. It was just too depressing - one of those growing-up = realizing that life really sucks and dreams don't come true books. It took me a while to realize how depressing it was. It was an interesting topic - addressing the thousands of women who were locked up for prostitution or loose behavior during WWI. But the historical interest could only hold me for so long. Don't read unless you are prepared to have your dreams crushed in sympathy with t More...

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Oct 12, 2008

Terri rated it:

This book is set during an ugly period of history that we were NOT taught in school. During WW1 women were unlawfully imprisoned (mostly prostitutes) and detained because they had STDs. The idea was to protect the soldiers so they could be healthy and go fight the Germans... Blame the women not the men.

These women were detained and "treated" for the illnesses. They had no rights and could have no contact with the outside world at all.

The story is about 17 ye More...

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May 06, 2008

Jeff rated it:

Not bad. The story follows a young woman in Boston in 1917-1918 as she a) makes a life for herself after fleeing a repressive home, b) has unsafe sex with a serviceman and contracts STDs and c) is picked up by the authorities when she tries to see her "beau" and is incarcerated in a quarantine center.

The good: it looks at a phenomenon that few people are aware of. As a history buff, I knew about crackdowns on brothels and prostitution near military bases during the Great More...

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Dec 05, 2007

Mike rated it:

The protagonist of Michael Lowenthal’s engaging novel Charity Girl is one of the 50,000 women spuriously imprisoned by the U.S. Government during WWI. This sounds like a dull premise, but what bubbles up through the setup is a spirited, sexy romp through a Boston in the grip of war fever. Frieda Mintz, a 17-year-old Jewish shopgirl, likes fast cars, handsome young officers, dances, drinking, and the Red Sox; her resistance to parental authority and independent spirit mark her as something of a p More...

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Feb 04, 2008

Julie rated it:

This book introduced me to a bit of history I managed to miss, despite the numerous history and women's history classes I took along the way. Who knew women deemed "oversexed" if they had a venereal disease were rounded up and locked in detention centers (converted brothels) during WWI--to keep the men safe! Apparently, the men had nothing to do with the spread of STDs. The title comes from the name given to women who weren't prostitutes, but who were thought to have slept with mayb More...

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Apr 02, 2011

Kim rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 14, 2010

Pat rated it:

Very interesting novel, based on true events, about a woman who was arrested and detained for having VD. This was in Boston during WWI. It's her struggle as a "shopgirl" with no power, no money and her relationship with the man (wealthy) who infected her. The setting and characters are unique -- I kept thinking I've never read anything like this before -- totally unpredictable (not that there were any great twists and turns -- but I had no idea where this story would go.

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Mar 18, 2009

Jodi rated it:

For the first couple of chapters, I wasn't sure I was going to like this book, but by Chapter 3 I was hooked and wanted to see how Frieda's life was going to turn out. Charity Girls were what the government called women during WWI that "entertained" the troops. Some were prostitutes, but most were just young girls who went to the USO dances to dance with the soldiers, or were just innocent girls caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The government imprisoned over 30,000 wo More...

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Jan 08, 2011

lee lee rated it:

Well, considering I read this in one day, I'd say I liked it. I just couldn't put it down! My favorite part of this book is that it wasn't at all what I expected, based on the reviews. I was surprised that it follows one character as closely as it did, which, of course, makes it a good novel. Though it's written in 3rd person, Freida's viewpoint is clearly shown, and it's an important one. However, despite her difficult life and trying circumstances, she isn't a pathetic or tragic protagonis More...

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Mar 26, 2008

Nancy rated it:

Based on the true experiences of large numbers of young women during the WWI who had, or were suspected of having venereal diseases, caught by government authorities and locked up in asylums where they were subjected to a variety of useful and not so useful treatments, and when cured, turned over to the courts for potential prosecution as prostitutes. In "Charity Girl" we meet young Frieda who has fled her home where her mother was forcing her into marriage to a much older man. Getting More...

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Jan 29, 2010

Sarah rated it:

Oh, my goodness! Did you know that during World War I our government incarcerated 15,000 women because they had STDs? I sure as heck didn't! This historical novel based on fact makes me want to do some research on my own. I can't BELIEVE our government did this! and I can't BELIEVE I didn't know about it! Really, some of these poor girls were with their solider boyfriends once or twice, got syphilis, and, boom, they are stuck in a "girls' home" until they are cured. Most were never cha More...

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Sep 14, 2008

Lisa rated it:

Interesting piece of history. Girls were incarcerated during WWI in order to "protect" the men in service.The US government detained 30,000 women. Half of those were found to carry venereal diseases and were detained for months. Only one third of the arrested women were charged with prostitution. The majority were not charged with any offense. Sometimes, they were arrested for dressing provocatively or walking alone through certain neighborhoods.

The heroine in the book mad More...

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May 04, 2009

Francine rated it:

Set during World War I, this book opened my eyes to the way women were treated way back when. The heroine, Frieda, catches VD and is herded into a quarantine camp. Soldiers back then were Golden Boys who needed to be protected from these "loose women" - never mind the fact that Frieda caught VD from her soldier boy. No happy ending here, but it will make you appreciate what we have now and what these women had to go through back then.

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Nov 11, 2010

Teresa rated it:

This is a interesting novel about what people in the United States were doing during WWI towards women who had social diseases. I found it was a little trite in some places in regards to the character types, such as the nice social worker with the heart of gold only out to rescue at least one poor soul. Other than that is was refreshing to have a new spin on the war novel.

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Mar 22, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Interesting topic that I was unfamiliar with, the incarceration of suspected prostitutes for treatment of STD's in various "homes" during WWI. I felt like the author was trying too hard to come up with the female perspective, tried too hard to fit in too many different topics and was too wordy. Could be good for a WWI history unit though for life on the homefront.

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Mar 07, 2009

Diane rated it:

This book concerns the program of putting girls in homes during WWI if they were suspected of consorting with soldiers. The reason for doing this was to prevent STD's from being transmitted. It takes place in the Boston area and tells the story of Frieda, a young woman who leaves home due to an overbearing mother. She works at Jordan Marsh in Boston until she meets an army private who sweeps her off her feet. Unfortunately, Frieda is caught and taken to one of these reform homes. Much of th More...

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Jan 25, 2011

Dimity rated it:

I loved the premise of this book but wasn't necessarily wowed by the prose or plot. It was obviously well-researched which I always appreciate. If you're interesting in the subject, it's definitely worth reading for the look into a little known but fascinating facet of American history. If you're looking for a great story, this probably won't suck you in.

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