Girl Unwrapped

(Hardback)

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Description

Girl Unwrapped is a girl's coming-of-age story set in 1960s Montreal about the burdens and blessings of history, the divided self, and the quest to be whole. Toni Goldblatt's awakening to taboo desire conflicts with her Holocaust-scarred parents' expectations. Yearning to reinvent herself, she flees to Israel in the wake of the 1967 war, but the Zionist dream doesn't save her; only on her return, when she discovers kindred spirits in the underground lesbian bar scene, does Toni begin to find her own path. Girl Unwrapped is a novel about love, isolation, and the search for personal truth despite the stranglehold of family.

Reviews

A complex coming-of-age story about an only child of Holocaust survivors whose keen sense of outsiderness and otherness is intensified by her struggle with coming out as a lesbian ... Ambitious in scope, at times poetic with strong imagery, this is a literary work that ultimately resonates with hope. --Kirkus Reviews

The tender closing of Toni's painful odyssey is filled with the blessings that come with no longer having to hide the truth. Goliger's symbolic transliteration of Lisa's Sabbath chant, 'Chew's life, ' appears to have worked its magic. --The Globe and Mail

Goliger's precise writing shows the hallmarks of a seasoned professional who knows exactly how to engage her reader: thoughtful prose, vibrant imagery, and compelling characters. Girl Unwrapped is a universally approachable story of self-discovery, told by a skillful and poised writer. --Quill and Quire

Author Bio

Gabriella Goliger: Gabriella Goliger's first book, Song of Ascent, won the Upper Canada Writer's Craft Award; she is also the winner of the Journey Prize for Short Fiction. Her work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies. She has been involved with the Canadian Jewish peace movement for twenty-five years.