This is the story of a friendship between Feron and Merry and the ties that bind even when you don’t see each other for years.
Both so very different but going through all the seasons that friendships go through.Beautiful book about the complexities of female friendships.
Thankyou Netgalley and publishers for this ARC.

Old Lovegood Girls tells the story of college roommates who remain friends, and writers, until they grow old. The novel repeats key phrases and advice the women received throughout their lives and illustrates how it impacts each character's decisions. The stories of Chekhov are mentioned and referenced. Gail Godwin provides a great book for discussion groups. Lovely novel.

A complex tale of friendship! I really enjoyed this book. The author did a masterful job weaving the story of Feron and Merry’s lives with the influence each has on the other and their writing ambitions, while also revealing some surprises. The supporting characters are interesting and also illustrate the changes in society over their long friendship. This book moves at a leisurely pace, but I found it absorbing reading.

I tried. I really did, Campus novels and stories of female friendship are among my favorites. The writing was strong, but I simply could never connect with Feron or Merry and sadly quit at 25%.. I did not cover this book on my blog or Bookstagram.

In this nostalgic look back into the mid 2oth century the lives of two women at Old Lovegood junior college become intertwined. Although their school days together are shortened by tragedy they are instrumental to each other throughout life. By juxtaposing the lives of these two women, Merry and Feron, the novel reflects on the traditions of the old South and those of the New York intellectual and family and friendship in connection and disconnection. The two women are writers, and in appearance and personality are opposites, begging the comparison to fairytales old (Snow White and Rose Red) and new (Frozen.) An offering from Gail Godwin is as welcome as one from Elena Ferrante.

What a beautiful book! Godwin's latest book was one worth waiting for.
This story depicts a fascinating friendship between the 2 main characters, Feron and Merry. The subject of friendship involves such complex motivations, needs and wants and the relationship between Feron and Merry certainly proved that tenet. What was especially intriguing, thanks to the author's writing skills, regarded a friendship where the friends didn't see each for years on end. There was a healthy degree of competition between the two, who both were writers at heart.
The life histories of the two were so masterfully interwoven. Their distinct lives and loved seemed so independent from each other and yet, the connection was always so strong. The author's creation of "reference auras" were so memorable. The is a book whose message will remain with you long after you've finished reading it.

Old Lovegood Girls by Gail Godwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The amazing Old Lovegood Girls is a story of friendship between two women who become talented writers. It recalled personal memories going back many years. An extraordinary read, it was filled with thoughts I wanted to ponder, remember, and cherish.

THE STORY: Finalizing room assignments for Lovegood Junior College in 1958, the dean decides to make some adjustments and places Feron Hood with Merry Jellicoe. Feron has had an unpleasant childhood and Merry might be a good influence. These oddly compatible young women become friends, but a tragic event causes Merry to leave school after one year.

Ten years later they inhabit different worlds and have not been in touch, but their friendship remains. Feron says that once someone is in your 'reference aura' they stay there forever. Over all the years, each is a touchstone for the other.

FIRST LINE: "The dean and the dorm mistress stood brooding over the student housing plans laid out on the rosewood conference table."

WHAT I THOUGHT: Such beautiful writing evokes memories about our own lives. I read Old Lovegood Girls on my Kindle, but I need to buy a hardcover copy so I can underline and write in it (blasphemy, I know). So many memories began to surface with this book that I felt the need to reel them in to continue reading. A more careful reading would let me explore each personal memory, what it meant then and what it means now.

The story constantly circles back revealing more and reminding the reader. At first I found that repetitious and a bit annoying, until I settled into the ebb and flow of the story. The ending seemed abrupt, but it drew together the themes of continuity and change. The technique woke me to a bad habit I have developed in this overstimulated world. Snap decisions. Superficial judging. Both save time but miss meaning.

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I read lots of books I end up loving but this one stole my heart. I felt it was written for me alone. I hope other readers will feel the same way.

Disclaimer: A copy of Old Lovegood Girls by Atlantic Monthly Press/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (May 5, 2020)
ISBN-10: 1632868229
ISBN-13: 978-1632868220

Gail Godwin is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the bestselling author of twelve critically acclaimed novels, including Unfinished Desires, A Mother and Two Daughters, Violet Clay, Father Melancholy's Daughter, Evensong, The Good Husband, and Evenings at Five. She is also the author of The Making of a Writer: Journals, 1961--1963, the first of two volumes, edited by Rob Neufeld. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has written libretti for ten musical works with the composer Robert Starer. She lives in Woodstock, New York.

I'm a longtime Gail Godwin fan yet I struggled to get through this one. I love her work so I'm planning to try again in the fall; perhaps that's the best time of year to read a book with a school setting, particularly when you take into consideration the havoc that covid-19 is creating in so many readers' reading lives; I'm probably not immune from the ill effects.

This is a book about the friendships that bind women. They met in college and their friendship spans decades, even when they are not in touch. Gail Godwin has such a way with making characters feel real and this book did not disappoint. I enjoyed the characters and missed them when the book was finished.

Another beautifully written novel by Gail Godwin.A story of women’s friendship in all its complexity. I was so involved neither the story the women I hated to put nthe book down.#netgalley# oldlovegoodgirls

In 1958, Feron Hood arrives at the Lovegood Junior College for Girls courtesy of her Uncle Rowan, a lawyer, a man everyone knows and loves. The dean and the dorm mistress make the careful decision to place the troubled newcomer in a dorm room with Merry Jellicoe. The dean surmises, correctly, that Feron, “had been subjected to a wider range of life’s misadventures than our typical Lovegood girl,” and that she “needs a positive, steadying influence.” The two girls could not have a more dissimilar background. Merry is the much-loved protected daughter of wealthy tobacco farmers, and Feron’s mother was an alcoholic who may or who may not have been murdered by her abusive second husband–a man who turned his violence onto Feron after her mother’s death.

Old lovegood girls

So here are these two girls: one whose past is behind a closed door and the other whose natural, sunny optimism cannot grasp how ugly life can be. The two girls hit it off immediately–perhaps because they both bring different characteristics to the table. Feron asks:

Was a person like Merry born with openheartedness, or was it seeded and grown year after year, by the people who had raised her to choose the generous and the true, themselves building on some rich soil of forebears?

But what if you had been raised by disappointed people who were always telling you they had expected a better life than this, who had withdrawn into themselves and took shortcuts with truth when it served their needs?

If one escaped those influences, was it possible to put on a good disposition, like a costume, and practice and practice until no one, except yourself, knew what you had been like before?

Feron and Merry both write creative assignments for English and while they support each other’s writing, there’s an edge of competitiveness from Feron; everything seems to come so easily to Merry. Their life together at Old Lovegood is cut tragically short when Merry fails to return to school after a holiday. The novel follows the trajectory of the two women’s lives, their successes, their losses, their writing, and their shared acquaintances. While they were each other’s best friends in college, strangely they do not keep in constant touch. It’s a friendship that has monumental significance for both of these women with each one acting as a touchstone for the other.

While the novel seems padded at times with the inclusion of various fictional works, and the interminable church service attended by Merry, I enjoyed the rest of the novel. The relationship between Merry and Feron is intriguing and a little odd. Even though the story revolves around these two women, we never really get that close. These two characters hold each other (and the reader) at a distance with (most) major traumatic events arriving via catch-up. It’s almost as though the connection is so deep that they don’t need to keep in touch–that each woman holds a luminous place ( a “reference aura” as Feron calls it) in their respective lives, and yet it’s a friendship fraught with some darker, realistic elements. Feron, a damaged woman who turns her dark past into her books, is the main character here with modest, kind Merry, who once seemed to be the person whose life you would envy, in the background. The inclusion of some wonderful secondary characters (typical in a good Southern novel IMO) add a great deal to the panorama of the lives of these two women. An engaging tale of female friendship, and how tragedy and life impact the creative experience.

review copy

The friendship of women--complicated, troubled, rich, and sometimes turbulent--is the fascinating centerpiece of Gail Godwin's latest intricately woven, sensitive novel. As always, Godwin spins a dense web of character and theme, proving once again she's a master of the literary read.

This book reminded me why I don’t typically read literary fiction. It is well written, but did no keep me interested.

Experience tells. Godwin’s long and distinguished career is evident in the layered richness of her new novel which presents itself in various guises as it bestrides the decades of two women’s lives and their enduring friendship. Feron and Merry, with their unlikely names, belong to an earlier era - as, at times, the novel seems too as well - but they are creatures of fascination. Do we believe in them or their backstories? Possibly not, yet their dilemmas, writing lives and bond with each other exert a real pull. Godwin spins a complex web and it’s a pleasure to see her threading in a throwaway line here, a recollected scene there. Stylish, substantial, satisfying.

I could find very little uplifting in this story of two girls who met in college as roommates for a couple of months, then hardly kept in touch (once a decade?) but each considered the other a best friend. The plot just didn't work very well for me. There is lots of repetition in the story telling, way more than necessary it seems. The girls were interesting but shallowly developed though much was hinted at. The first third or so of the book was quite good and promising but the remaining two thirds just sort of drifted passed. All major milestones (weddings, funerals, etc.) were recounted briefly after the fact so there was no opportunity for emotional ties to the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC to read and review.

Looking for a deep read of two very different women who become life long friends? Old Lovegood Girls is the story of Merry Jellicoe and Feron Hood. Put together as room mates at Lovegood College for Women in 1958,. they only get to spend a short time together, but this chance connection continues throughout their lives. Fledgling writers, they act as catalysts to the other in terms of their future endeavors. A very literary read, as the women compare their writings to Chekov stories, it is a satisfying friendship novel.

I so love Gail Godwin’s writing but this book was a challenge for me. I couldn’t identify with the characters as it seemed a time before me, and it also was very stereotypical. I thought it was slow moving. I would not recommend the title.

Gail Goodwin is a remarkable writer. I have read prior work of hers and was pleased to receive this for review.
Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. I highly recommend this books.

This is a interesting story of strong women friendships that can stand the test of time. Two women meet at
l at the Lovegood Junior College for Girls. One of the girls is quite privileged and spoiled. The other girl is not privileged and has dark secrets she is hiding. The two could not be more different yet they become close friends. Over time after school they lead completely different lives yet they still feel their close friendship has made an indelible impression upon themselves. When they need each other they meet again and find their friendship does indeed stand the tests of time.

The writing is outstanding, the story complex with marvelous charcters. I highly recommend this enjoyable read from author Gail Goodwin. Review is cross posted.

A wonderfully well told story of two women who are completely different but form a string friendship. Is it a healthy friendship? That's for you to find out. If you haven't discovered Gail Goodwin yet start with this winner and immerse yourself in her realistic prose. Happy reading!

3.5 stars

This is a definite literary novel. It's not often I read books that discuss Chekhov stories and Doris Lessing books as casually as what someone is doing for the week-end. It is the story of two college room-mates at a small two year college. Even though they spend a short time together they become life long friends. They go long periods without talking (sometimes 8-10 years) but always turn up when the other one needs them. It is a glowing story about friendship.