The Saturday Girl

by Tessa Barclay

A saga set in a Lancashire mill town during the 1930s, in which a bright young woman is befriended by a wealthy invalid who offers her the opportunity to study at university and travel to the South-West Pacific. From the author of THE MILLIONAIRE'S WOMAN, HER FATHER'S CHILD, A HIDDEN BEAUTY and A PROFESSIONAL WOMAN.

533 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Pseudonym of Jean Bowden

Tessa Barclay is the author of many much-loved family sagas and historical romance novels, including the Wine Widow trilogy, the four-part Craigallan series, and the Corvill Weaving saga – all coming soon in new paperback editions and as ebooks for the very first time from Corazon Books. Tessa began her writing career after being educated at the Miss Jean Brodie school, and has since written over 100 books. As Jean Bowden, she wrote the acclaimed Nurses at War.

Other known pseudonyms:
Babara Annandale
Belinda Dell
Jocelyn Barry
Avon Curry
Jennifer Bland
Lee MacKenzie

Reviews

[Mookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for this book, although every time I read it I forget what I didn't like about it, and then have to endure the bad bits all over again. I still push through it, however, because overall it charms me.

I first picked this up in the library when I was twelve years old, based on the cover alone. Can we take a moment to appreciate this cover? This was who I wanted to grow up into, back when kid-me wanted to be an anthropologist. In a way I feel this cover was wasted on this book; it has such an expedition feel to it. I can almost feel like I'm standing on that beach taking a picture of her.

I don't know what you would call this genre. Well-written dime store books? Is that a thing? A little below Catherine Cookson and a bit above Evelyn Hood. In the same vein as the Thorn Birds but less soap-opera-y. This book was, ultimately, very well-written. Tessa Barclay knows her stuff. I would not be surprised to find out if she had once pursued anthropology herself, she knows the realities of the job through and through. The character lives in unglamorous conditions, forced to play assistant and transcribe notes, has a real empathy for the lives of the people she's intruding on, and has to come to terms with the ethics and voyeuristic nature of her career. The book started off strong as it depicted her youth and her burgeoning career, and her field work was so interesting. After that the book really just deflated for me. I liked Keith as a match for her, he challenged her and was overall a good guy. I was bit skeptical at her continuous gullability over Tal. Man what a d-bag. But I can see why she kept forgiving him, he was a charming scamp, right up until he single-handedly destroyed her career. The author made him a bit too likeable for me to seriously think he could do that to her. But man, what a character he was. Great addition, although I wished he could have redeemed himself.

So this book was a bit more disjointed than I'd like, but pretty much what I expected. My BIG problem was her relationship with her first boyfriend. Spoiler below.

So this chav kid from her old neighborhood courts her when she's a teenager, then rapes her, and it's a big deal with her and her guardians. Obviously. Make no bones about it, it was full on rape. There's some drama, she cuts him out, becomes an academic, works on her career, when her career flatlines she comes back home and meets up with him again. He's now a successful boxer (bit of a trope, but ok), and she forgets that he raped her and they start dating! This line below had me laughing.

"For the second time in her life Libby Marthwaite gave in to Charlie Sibwell. But this time there was no reluctance on her part, no weary acquiescence. Desire seized them both, carrying them on a storm that lasted only a short time but left them both spent. After a moment he raised himself on an elbow to look down at the flushed, drowsy face. 'By heaven...' It was a murmur of astonishment. 'I didn't know what I was missing, the first time.'

Consent. For starters. I actually said this out loud, so disbelieving that she'd go back to him. The author did write this out as a way of Charlie being a representative of Libby's slump in life and career, and when she broke it off with Charlie she could more readily move on. But it was hard as the first half of the book was about her building her career and her ambitions, and then bam, she had nothing. And the book kind of flatlined after that.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book and especially the interresting events the writer describes!my favorite character is susane,the main character!I recommend this book to all girls who like this type of