In a world where your value is tied to your appearance, what happens when you fall outside the standard feminine ideal?
So begins Georgy Girl, which centres on a 22 year old self loathing doormat who spends all her time catering to the whims of others - no matter how badly they treat her.
Plain, big in stature, and therefore apparently unworthy of love, she is at the beck and call of her attractive flatmate Meredith, and believes any ill treatment towards her is fully deserved. It’s hard not to become very frustrated with all the self-flagellation and stream of abuse Georgy directs towards herself, especially when there is an opportunity to stand her corner many times in the narrative, but her lack of self esteem due to her appearance perfectly encapsulates the effects of the misogynistic society she is a product of.
Throughout the novel, there seems to be only two modes of women in the narrative; the femme fatale sex kiten who is unresistable but fully immortal, and the dowdy ‘others’, who have to settle for a life of pity and loneliess. There doesn’t seem to be a truly happy ending for any of the women in the story, and instead Georgy Girl really pushes that options for women in 1970s London are extremely limited.
This one is definitely a frustrating read due to the central characters (in the same way Queenie was for me), and I did find the ending to this one a little flat overall. Have you read this one? I’d love to know your thoughts.
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