Author: Joyce Carol Oates
Published first on: 1993
Edition I read: 2014
Read in: Translation to Spanish
ISBN: 978-84-663-2852-4
The time is the 1950s. The place is a blue-collar town in upstate New York, where five high school girls are joined in a gang dedicated to pride, power, and vengeance in a world they never made – a world that seems made to denigrate and destroy them.
It is the story of Maddy Monkey, who writes it…of Goldie, whose womanly body masks a fierce, explosive temper…of Lana, with her Marylin Monroe hair and packs of Chesterfields…of timid Rita, whose humiliation leads to the first act of Foxfire revenge. Above all, it is the story of Legs Sadovsky, with her lean, on-the-edge, icy beauty, whose nerve, muscle, hate, and hurt make her the spark of Foxfire, its guiding spirit, its burning core. At once brutal and lyrical, this is a careening joyride of a novel – charged with outlaw energy and lit by intense emotion.
(fragment of Goodreads description)
I’ll start by saying that the GR description in English is far better from the one in my Spanish paperback edition. That one leads to a totally different story; however, the one mentioned above feels right to me. I think the only good thing about the book I bought is that its cover is made from a poster of the 2012 film adaptation so it’s all the girls looking at you with fierce yet calm expressions. I found it beautiful and better than the old Spanish one, all ‘girly’ pink instead of wary red – the one Foxfire deserves.
Apart from that, it’s hard to start talking about this book. It’s been a real rollercoaster of emotions that I’m not sure if I’ll be able to express correctly.
I read a review from a blogger that I enjoy a lot reading. Her passion about it left me all intrigued and eager to jump right into it. I added it to my huge ‘to read’ list on Goodreads and there I left it, too focused on what I was reading at that moment.
Until one day I went to the closest thing to a mall we have in my little town (more like a big supermarket) to get a simple soda, but passing by the book section as I always do. There it was. I may have been daydreaming because it shone bright among the other books like a flame of its fire, the Foxfire. Even if it’s a pocket edition, small, simple, and almost buried between some other small simple books that no one pays attention to because they’re not ‘famous’. The title was furious red in the style of typical US theaters and the girls stood there like ready to fight. It made me run to see the price and as I had the money I got it with a somewhat stupid smile on my face.
Despite all that, I was afraid I might have grown too great expectations of it. Luckily, it wasn’t a disappointment. It was everything I expected and then more.
What can I say about Foxfire without spoiling the surprise? The description on the back of my book did it well with that (but seriously, one of the worst I’ve ever encountered): it lead to violent gang like the ones we always see with boys: savage, primitive sometimes, mostly senseless. «They have guns», the description says, like they were some sort of Al Capone faction. Sigh.
Foxfire, the word that names the book and also this girl gang, describe quite accurately this group of friends that becomes a sisterhood and a refuge. Their cunning spirit represented in the fox, the burning energy represented in the fire. Their relationship is like a normal one of a group in their teens. They only want a group to belong to, a shield to protect them of the bad things that exist in the real world where they’re jumping in, leaving the childhood where everything is possible and you think you’re invincible. I mean, it’s like urban tribes now. I know it was more serious than that, but it was the usual in the time and place the characters live in. It was the time when the traditional family started to be something from the past, and teenagers were left mostly on their own.
The so-called gang starts with a ritual that at first seems barely a typical drunk night but it turns into something else when faced with the troubles that a teenage girl has to deal with everyday. Especially problematic when you have no one to help you but yourself and your friends. Foxfire is a secret because secrets mean power, power over Them, the adults, the corrupted society that is blind to the grave issues, and that they decide to fight against with all their will.
If you’re a girl/woman, the unpleasant situations that the girls in Foxfire get involved in will probably look familiar. You might be even surprised by the amount of things socially accepted or at least blindly denied that should be properly punished instead. If you’re a boy/man, you might see the world from a new perspective after reading the book. I’d like to think that everyone that reads this book can finish it somehow renewed, that it could change those toxic behaviours that inflict more damage than people usually think. My optimism seems preposterous, I know. And don’t think even for a second that these kind of things are something from the past just because this book is set on the 50s. It’s happening right now, maybe even under your noses.
It’s a tough book, of course. The trigger warnings I should put are a long list to enumerate. If you’re sensitive you’re going to have it hard. There were parts where I was glad my stomach was empty. It’s not as bloody, violent, etc. as it may look though.
A negative thing about it in my opinion was the narration by Maddy-Monkey. It’s supposed to be done by an adult Maddy but it’s written like a early teenager would: too quick, too messy, too excited. And the repetitions that sometimes makes you think about a possible OCD. I don’t know if it’s due to the translation into Spanish but it’s a little annoying. However, it’s not a big issue when it comes to enjoy the reading.
What did I love apart from the feminist essence which goes all over the book and which leads the Foxfire gang to do anything for the achievement of a peaceful existence far away from the general disgusting sexism?
The romance.
The word romance goes on italics because it’s atypical. It’s that kind of love that gets classified and labelled as something that it’s not, or it’s completely denied as what it really is. Unfortunately, society has a lot of things to learn, and I include myself on that. On Foxfire you are witness of a romantic love away from conventional which, if you don’t pay attention, you’ll probably miss.
Legs is one of the most intriguing characters I’ve found during my journey along works of fiction, and one of the most true and genuine. She is who she is and everything she does seems deep, transcendental. Maybe this is because of Maddy’s narration, who really looks up to her.
I don’t know what else I can say. The ending is perfect. I hate endings, they never leave me satisfied enough, but I don’t think the author could have given Foxfire a better ending. Just the right dose of everything to have in a good closure.
I will watch the 2012 film as soon as I can.
My rating is a 9’5/10 or a 5/5 stars.
Are you now interested in reading it? Do you have another opinion about it? Don’t be shy and leave a comment! 🙂
-E.
Reading Is Not Easy With Eyes Closed 