Such a Pretty Girl (2007) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Meredith: She was raped by her father and now he is out of jail to finish what was started between them. But court order states that her father is to only have super­vised vis­its with Mered­ith
• Charles: Meredith's father. He raped Meredith and molested five other boys. Also arrested for nine years but only did three.
• Andy Muese: Meredith's boyfriend. He is in a wheelchair (par­a­lyzed) and was also molested by her father
• Sharon Shale: This is Meredith's mother who is in denial about what her husband had done. Thinks they can still become a normal family and put the past behind them.
• Nigel Balt­haza: A retired cop. He was the one who actu­ally arrested her father.
• Leah Louisa Delklap: Merideth's grandmother.
• Madonna: A wooden picture.
• Paula Mues Beecher: Andy's mother. Also known as the women Merideth's father cheated with on his wife.
• Gran: Merideth's grandmother
• Tony: owners of a pizza place called Tony's Pizza
• Gilly: Nigel's dog
• Azzah: Add a description of this character.
• Sam
• Nigel Balthazar
• Dad

Quotes edit see section history

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• “I shake my head, too miserable to speak. I know now that I'm the only one who really understands the threat and if I'm ever going to be free of him, really free, once and for all, then I will have to bite the bullet and spend time in his company. Stake out the sacrificial lamb. Uncoil the rope so he can hang himself.”

  Meredith

• “Ms. Mues and Nigel are talking, but I'm caught up in the fantasy of my father's permanent absence. It's a siren song that promises peace and remains maddeningly out of reach.”

  Meredith

• “Memorize his face so when I close my eyes I can still find him.”

  Meredith (about Andy)

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• We wait to be rescued, but for whatever reason, no one comes. We figure that if no one protects us then we must not be worth protecting so we become prey and are easily picked off. Our wounded, kicked-puppy gazes attract sly predators and we sell ourselves for clearance sale prices, mistaking screwing for caring.

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• We binge, purge, sleep around. We drink too much and get too high, anything to blot out the past. We accept and endure beatings and humiliations because our fathers, our uncles, and our mothers’ twisted boyfriends said they loved us, too, right before they broke our bones and tore our tissue, right before they made us receive them.

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• We don’t see what we should see because having anyone is still supposedly better than being alone.

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• “Chirp is dead,” I hear myself say and watch the flat words destroy his pleasure. “You killed her, and now you have to deal with me because I’m what’s left.”

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• We have babies because we want them to love us, to make us important, but they only make us tired and fat and stinking of spit up because they’re babies, not saviors. Their fathers leave us, sick of crap and sour milk, sweatpants and tears. But the babies still need all of us, only there isn’t anything left to give because we based our worth on the lowlifes who knocked us up and around.

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• Doesn’t anyone realize that one touch, one time will destroy a child’s life ten times faster than a pack-a-day habit?”

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• The odds are high that the best of me has already been ripped away and that if I don’t keep hold of myself I will lose what’s left. Without the structure of my rules and rituals, I’m a free-for-all open to any guy who wants to hurt me. And I don’t want to be hurt anymore. I want to be someone who makes it through.

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• I forgive him for not being what I want and am thankful for his being what I need.

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• And I wonder, not for the first time, how Ms. Mues can dwell in darkness fifty-two times a year and still see so clearly while my own mother, a creature of sunlight and shine, sees nothing at all.

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• One is the primary number from which all others grow. It’s an upsurge of power and the beginning of all things. One is the first day of the week. One is the loneliest number. Seven, on the other hand, is the number of completion. Seven deadly sins, seven virtues, seven vices. On the seventh day, God rested.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Iowa
• Blessed Virgin
• Jim Beam

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

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• Paralysis: Being paralyzed is brought up frequently in this book. Andy is physically paralyzed and many other characters are paralyzed in different ways.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Laura Wiess (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PZ7.W6372 Suc 2007
• Dewey: <Fic> 22

Notes for Parents edit see section history

As this is a book concerning incest survival and sexual abuse, of course the reader must be mature enough to handle such themes.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Teens › Social Issues › Sexual Abuse
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

More Books Like This edit see section history