Through No Fault Of My Own: A Girl�s Diary Of Life On Summit Avenue In The Jazz Age (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a one-year diary written by a 12-13 year old girl, daughter of a wealthy lumber man in St. Paul, MN in the 1920s. They live in a 20-room mansion which in later years was donated to the State of Minnesota and is now the Governor's mansion.Coco is a very spirited child and pulls many pranks and shenanigans. It is quite funny. She continues to say "I am in deep trouble through no fault of my own." It is hilariously true to the way a young teen thinks. Nothing she does is blame-worthy, and her parents just don't understand anything.This is a short, quick read. I laughed out loud and thoroughly enjoyed Coco's precocious attitude and good writing style. In the afterword we are treated to an update on Coco's adult life as well as her siblings' lives, not all of it happy, but it's a treat for the reader to learn what ensues. I really enjoyed this charming slice of life from an entitled Twin Cities "roaring twenties" childhood. Clotilde "Coco" Irvine, 12, of Summit Avenue, St. Paul, received a diary for Christmas, 1926, and spends the rest of the next year putting into it her troubles, desires, ideas, and other thoughts. The entries are written with a wit and vibrancy that still can cause laughter, both rooted in the idiosyncrasies of the year 1927 and timeless to young adulthood in any era. I really enjoy daily life, personal insights into historical periods, and this is one of the most genuinely entertaining I've read. In spite of being the daughter of the Vanderbilt-like logging family, the Irvines (who built the house that later became the Minnesota Governor's Mansion, no less), her writing is down to earth yet is also quite eloquent. I have to wonder how much was polished when Irvine revisited her early teenage writing later in life, but even still, would that my own daily life was written so elegantly. Peg Meier's introduction and notes add depth to this slice of history and its author.
What do You think about Through No Fault Of My Own: A Girl�s Diary Of Life On Summit Avenue In The Jazz Age (2011)?
Cute story. Loved the writing style and seeing into the mind of a 13 year old.
—sandy
Loved this charming book about an irrepressible Jazz era girl in St. Paul.
—bookwarmt
must be that brisk Minnesota air. She was so fun, like Betsy-Tacy. . .
—Ellys
I wonder if CLAN will ever get this...
—abudraitis
