The Guineveres

August 29, 2016
Four girls named Guinevere, “a coincidence that bound us together from the moment we met,” arrive within two years of one another at the Sisters of the Supreme Adoration convent, in Domet’s debut novel. The story is narrated by Vere, looking back to when she “was a sensitive young girl, a girl who still had faith,” but Vere sees her own story as so bound up with the other Guineveres, she commonly uses the first-person plural. There is Ginny, “a delicate creature”; Winnie, funny and down to earth; and Gwen, the last to arrive and the most worldly of the four, a pretty girl who longs to get out, who devises a plan for them to escape through a hollowed-out float during the convent’s annual festival. The Guineveres’ punishment for their failed escape is three months of service in the convent’s convalescent ward, to “reawaken sense of gratitude,” in the words of Father James. When a group of comatose and unidentified soldiers, severely injured in a foreign war, are brought in, the Guineveres develop a joint fantasy that the boys will wake and the girls will get to return home with them. Domet’s concept is strong, an homage to The Virgin Suicides with its group narration and fixation on trapped teenage girls. Though the story is a bit too long, Domet deftly weaves in the girls’ individual stories and the stories of female saints into her structure, making this a satisfying read on multiple levels.

Four girls, all named Guinevere, come of age in a convent in wartime."Of the Guineveres, Gwen was the prettiest, and she understood this as fact, not opinion." It is Gwen who teaches the other three--Win, Ginny, and Vere--to use berries for lipstick, and she who devises the plan for their escape from the Sisters of the Supreme Adoration. Inspired by a movie in which a chorus girl popped out of a cake, the girls hide themselves inside the chicken-wire-and-tissue-paper hand on a parade float, planning to bust out once it's parked overnight. The failure of the plot is the beginning of their friendship, as told by Vere. She never locates the story in a specific place or time, nor does she identify the war that rages beyond its borders, but she brings the convent and its inhabitants to life with great verve: the pinch-faced nuns, the alcoholic priest, and the troop of girls in their care. There are The Specials, "who still had contact with their parents, who received letters and birthday cards and postcards"; The Sads, "whose parents had died suddenly and sometimes violently: in fires, in automobile accidents, in suicides"; The Poor Girls, "taken away...from their destitute families"; The Delusionals, who believe they are going home any day now; and the Guineveres, bursting with life and nascent sexuality in these rigid confines. When four comatose soldiers are delivered to the Sick Ward of the convent, each of the girls adopts one of the boys and falls in love with him.Domet's (90 Days to Your Novel, 2010) energetic prose, institutional setting, Christian fabulism, and fervidly wacky plot--revolving around the ability of the comatose to get a hard-on--will appeal to fans of John Irving. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2016

Four teenagers, each named Guinevere, find themselves under the strict guidance of the nuns at Our Lady of Perpetual Adoration. Although they share a common name, Gwen, Ginny, Win, and Vere all have different and equally heartbreaking reasons for coming to live at the convent. The girls are guided by the dogmatic and controlling Sister Fran and the spiritually inept Father James. Sent to the convent's convalescent wing as punishment, the young women must take care of five unidentified and comatose soldiers. When one of the soldiers awakens and another girl is sent home with him to help with his recovery, each friend imagines a future with "her" soldier outside the constraints of the religious community. The Guineveres (as the girls call themselves) navigate the liminal spaces between childhood and adulthood, and faith and skepticism through the lens of broken families and intense friendships. Although those used to quick beach reads might find the pace slow, Domet's debut will lure readers in with well-developed characters, rich language, and small miracles. VERDICT Recommended for students who are looking for weighty romance novels.-Krystina Kelley, Belle Valley School, Belleville, IL

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2016
When we first meet the four teenage Guineveresbrassy Gwen, fragile Ginny, bold Win, and earnest Verethey are trying to escape the convent in which their various parents have left them. The attempt fails, and stern Sister Fran sentences the four to care for comatose soldiers who have been brought to the convent's infirmary. When one of the soldiers awakens, and an older girl leaves the convent to help care for him, the Guineveres see another avenue for escape. Each girl claims a solider and tends to him diligently, pinning her hopes of a life outside the convent walls on her patient. As the months wind on, and the soldiers fail to awaken, Gwen concocts a plan to identify the men in the hopes of bringing their families to the convent. The novel is narrated by Vere, who studies the female saints closely as a way to explain the lives and suffering of her and her fellow Guineveres, observing, We cling to the most painful reminders of our youth . . . perhaps so we can look back to our former selves, console them, and say: Keep going. I know how the story ends. Domet's debut is a luminous bildungsroman, brimming with wisdom about how girls view themselves, each other, and the world around them.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2016

Four girls, each named Guinevere and each with her own secret, heart-wrenching story, are abandoned at an austere convent. Ginny, Gwen, Win, and Vere call themselves The Guineveres. While they share a name, they are very different. Artist Ginny, Hollywood hopeful Gwen, seemingly stoic Win, and nurturing Vere form a tight bond. When four unconscious soldiers arrive at the convent with war injuries, each Guinevere chooses to watch over a boy, with unforeseeable consequences. Following the church seasons and its ageless rituals, each protagonist's story of abandonment is juxtaposed with tales of defiant Catholic female saints who experienced extreme suffering. In these adolescents' cloistered existence, life is spare and difficult. These graphic stories of the saints support the theme that there are infinite ways to experience pain and loss, and this has been true throughout time. With polished prose, Domet (90 Days to Your Novel) offers an unsettling, melancholy first novel whose tone echoes that of Jeffrey Eugenides's The Virgin Suicides. VERDICT This phenomenal, character-driven story is mesmerizing, with just a glimmer of hope that good can emerge from the most troublesome situations. [See Prepub Alert, 4/3/16.]--Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016

Vere, Gwen, Ginny, and Win: actually, they are all coincidentally named Guinevere, and they are all abandoned by their various parents to be raised by nuns at the Sisters of the Supreme Adoration. Everything is fine until four comatose soldiers from an unnamed war are brought to the convent. Compared to Jeffrey Eugenides's The Virgin Suicides, Domet's first novel will get a shout-out at the forthcoming Day of Dialog.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2016

Four girls, each named Guinevere and each with her own secret, heart-wrenching story, are abandoned at an austere convent. Ginny, Gwen, Win, and Vere call themselves The Guineveres. While they share a name, they are very different. Artist Ginny, Hollywood hopeful Gwen, seemingly stoic Win, and nurturing Vere form a tight bond. When four unconscious soldiers arrive at the convent with war injuries, each Guinevere chooses to watch over a boy, with unforeseeable consequences. Following the church seasons and its ageless rituals, each protagonist's story of abandonment is juxtaposed with tales of defiant Catholic female saints who experienced extreme suffering. In these adolescents' cloistered existence, life is spare and difficult. These graphic stories of the saints support the theme that there are infinite ways to experience pain and loss, and this has been true throughout time. With polished prose, Domet (90 Days to Your Novel) offers an unsettling, melancholy first novel whose tone echoes that of Jeffrey Eugenides's The Virgin Suicides. VERDICT This phenomenal, character-driven story is mesmerizing, with just a glimmer of hope that good can emerge from the most troublesome situations. [See Prepub Alert, 4/3/16.]--Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.