ONE GIRL’S JOURNEY TO YOUNG-
ADULTHOOD IN THE 1960s…
Fourteen-year-old Colleen Hanrahan knows what boys want and is willing to give it to them — on her own terms.
An intelligent and proud young woman, Colleen tries to remain above her bad reputation and tells herself it doesn’t matter what other people think about her promiscuous behavior, as long as her father — a successful, bullying criminal defense attorney and controlling, bad-tempered alcoholic — doesn’t hear about it. She can count on her mother — a family law attorney with whom she shares a secret — to come to her defense, if needed.
Born and raised in Newburgh, NY, Colleen is proud of her birthplace and its historical importance. She’s concerned, though, about the changing complexion of the city’s residents and the “white flight” and resulting deterioration of downtown the arrival of poor blacks from the South is causing. Most disturbing to her is the racism that has emerged in the white community, from which her parents and her father in particular are not immune. Feeling owned by her father the way blacks in the country were once owned as slaves, she identifies with the Civil Rights Movement and begins thinking that becoming a lawyer and, perhaps, a politician and fighting for all oppressed people’s civil rights would be a worthwhile thing to do.
Set in the mid to late 1960s, Colleen’s story unfolds against the backdrop of one of the most pivotal and turbulent times in American history. The events of the decade have a profound affect on her, as do the significant people she meets on her journey to young-adulthood.
This is a gem of a story that could be another of literature’s coming-of-age character studies.Dave Gioia’s Girl with a Bad Reputation is a simple story with complex undertones. Colleen Hanrahan is a fourteen-year-old girl coming of age during the tumultuous 1960s. Colleen’s journey is equally riotous, awkward, uncomfortable, and momentous, and at times shines with humor and intelligence. Civil rights, sexual awakening, psychological issues, and relationships are held up to a microscope in this fascinating character study of a girl with a bad reputation.
Outwardly, Colleen is a typical high school student, dealing with friends and studies. But Colleen has a second life that is about to come to light. Highly intelligent, but equally manipulative, she uses sex as a means of establishing control among her peers. Word spreads and she earns a reputation, one that she initially revels in. Until, that is, the darker side of notoriety rears its ugly head.
A series of violently abusive relationships begins to open her eyes. Colleen is forced to examine the psychological underpinnings of her desire to control men, leading to some shocking revelations. Along the way, she stumbles through historical events, including the Civil Rights Movement and Woodstock.
A Girl with a Bad Reputation is the insightful story of a troubled girl living in a difficult time period. It explores themes of personal maturation and the nation’s confrontation with the Civil Rights Movement. It has the makings of a gem, and could be another of literature’s coming-of-age character studies.
“A Girl with a Bad Reputation follows 16-year-old Colleen as she wends her way through the turmoil of coming of age in a time of social change and unrest. Her sexual exploits are numerous and sometimes lead to more questions than answers for Colleen. A difficult, but often unexpectedly fun path unfolds, and as the story progresses, we watch Colleen mature as her understanding of life and love grows.“
“A great read to get an understanding of how reputations can be affected with and without our desire for them to.Choices have consequences, but they don’t have to be lifelong. A wonderful read.“
FROM THE AUTHOR
Thoughts about A Girl With A Bad Reputation…
A Girl With A Bad Reputation, my third novel, is a departure from my first two novels in that it features a single protagonist, young Colleen Hanrahan, and is told entirely from her point of view. The book dedication is “For a girl I once knew” and Colleen’s character is, in fact, based loosely on a girl I once knew when I was living in the Newburgh, NY, area and attending junior high and high school there. The fact that I wrote the story is testimony to the lasting impression people can make on us. The idea to write the story came to me while I was finishing work on my second novel, Himba Pond Dance, and I decided to pursue writing it for a number of reasons: First, I thoroughly enjoy writing about young characters; second, the idea of writing about a young female character with a bad reputation appealed to me; and, third, I experienced the 1960s firsthand and the idea of using it as the backdrop for the story and really as a character in and of itself was exciting.
Using the names of the significant people in Colleen’s life for the chapter headings seemed like the right thing to do, given the nature of the story. I remember having a conversation with a close friend of mine, who’s an avid reader and good editor, about chapter headings when I was writing my first novel, Valley of Saint Anne. In the first draft, which I shared with her and she critiqued, the chapters were numbered and were accompanied by brief descriptive phrases, which is what prompted the conversation. She has an uneasy relationship with chapters, numbered or otherwise, and wondered if they’re even necessary in a novel. Beyond making it easier to know where you left off reading, I’m not sure.
Like my first two novels, A Girl With A Bad Reputation doesn’t fit neatly into any genre other than “Literary Fiction” or “General Fiction”; yet, like those stories, this story has a strong “Young-Adult” and “Women’s Lit” feel to it. While I wrote the novel to be read and enjoyed by everyone and have heard from both male and female readers about their experiences with it, based on what female readers have shared with me, I have to say that the story resonates most deeply with them and not surprisingly. They all, in their own way, identify closely with Colleen’s struggle with her father to establish her independence from him and with local society to maintain her dignity and self-esteem. The fact of the matter is that it isn’t easy being female in a patriarchal society, which ours still is.
Writing a novel is a magical experience for me, filled with surprises and the unexpected; just as the experience of reading a novel is for readers. There’s no way to predict what part of a story will affect readers most but based on what both male and female readers have shared with me, the interaction between Colleen and Jasmine stands out. In a way it’s not surprising because their contentious relationship encapsulates the struggle between blacks and whites in America at the time and that, sadly, continues to this day. Colleen and Jasmine find a way to make peace with each other. My hope is that the rest of our society does too.