7/29/13

A Man for Marcy, by Rosamund du Jardin

Sometimes a weekend has to be spent doing things other than reading the enticing/wonderful/overwhelming pile of review copies.   In my case, this weekend was spent cleaning house...did you know that many cat fleas are now resistant to the flea drops you can buy in the grocery store?  I now know this, to my cost.

So anyway, in the course of cleaning, I organized a few book piles, and picked something light and pointless enough so that I wouldn't get distracted from the work at hand--A Man for Marcy, by Rosamond du Jardin (1954).

I cannot really recommend this, except to those who are already interested in teen romances of the 1950s.  Marcy's steady boyfriend, Steve, has gone to college, leaving her a senior in highschool.  Marcy, a very boring girl, mopes.  After Thanksgiving, she stops moping.  Dates other guys.  Plays chess with an old man in the hospital (which is the one really nice thing about her).   She doesn't get that much more interesting, though.  She says she likes reading poetry, but we never see her crack a book.  We don't even get many good descriptions of 1950s fashions.  And, the real nail in her coffin-- she likes it when Steve is masterful.

So yeah, Marcy's mom has gone back to work as a nurse...but Marcy has no ambition to do anything, it seems.  She is so limited in imagination that she never once daydreams about a future farther away than next month.  No plans for college, career, anything.  Just more exciting dates!

And gee, dating was so much easier back then...all you had to do, apparently, was chat to a guy and next thing you know he'll be asking you out for malteds.

But at least I can put A Man for Marcy away now, in the dim recess of the house where fleas don't go, waiting for when I open my used book store.

PS: Oh dear.  I have just gone to Amazon to get a link for the book, and see now that there is a sequel--Senior Prom--and so help me I am tempted...

11 comments:

  1. Um, I own the entire series. There's something weirdly soothing about these books. I also read Lenora Mattingly Weber when I am overly stressed. I've been collecting '50s teen literature for almost 30 years, along with etiquette manuals, but I've never let my daughters read them, for the reasons you describe. Thanks for mentioning this. I may have to reread tomorrow when the new kitchen sink is put in....

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    1. I do sincerly like LMW, and have most of her books! But her characters actually have substance...perhaps this book simply isn't showing Marcy at her best. Definitly good sink reading, though.

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  2. This is something I might have read in junior high many years ago.

    For your flea problem, there's a product called Revolution that's a topical solution. I've been using it on my cat. It's available at vet offices and through 1800PetMeds. There's another one called Comfortis that is a pill which is much more problematic for my diva cat. They're both expensive!

    Cheryl

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    1. Yes--we just got some Revolution a few days ago, so hopeful no new fleas will enter the house, and we can work on riding ourselves of the last few stragglers...

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  3. Oh my. I'm happy this isn't what I had to read as a teen.

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  4. But what happened with Steve? And who does she take to Senior Prom? Now I must know. I didn't read a lot of this sort of thing (although I'm sure I would have, I read anything I could get my hands on) but I do remember Bevery Clearly's Sister of the Bride very clearly. There was a lot of cookie (I think she spelled it cooky, actually) baking.

    Good luck with the fleas!

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    1. I rather liked Fourteen, I think it was, by Beverly Cleary...

      In the sequel, Marcy is apparently faced with the Gripping Dilemma of which two boys, who aren't Steve, to take the prom. Oh the tension!!!

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  5. Your post made me giggle! I read the Marcy series ages ago when I was eleven or so. Found it at my local library. High school was so not like this!! It is soothing as Ms. Yingling mentioned. But I'm glad heroines have more going for them nowadays.

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    1. It's hard to believe it was like this even back then!

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  6. *hysterical laughter*
    This reminds me so much of my A Girl Called Tommie, A Nurse Called Tommie, A Wife Called Tommie books... at least Tommie finally had a career. All of my romantic girly stories from the fifties were about student nurses... who apparently never had to don gloves and clean bedpans or have anyone vomit on them. I always wondered how they managed...

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    1. I like student nurse stories! Except for Jean Tours a Hospital, which is excruciatingly boring. In it, Jean tours a hospital!

      I will never give up my Sue Bartons, though. I might have to look for the Tommie books--never heard of them!

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