Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Flower Children

Title: Flower Children Author: Maxine Swann Publisher: Riverhead Books Pages: 211 Copyright: 2007



I was intrigued by the cover of this book. I grew up during the same era, and the picture of the children playing (in 70's attire) took me back to my childhood. This is a fictionalized account of Swann's childhood growing up with two Harvard-educated hippies as parents. She and her siblings had no discipline, no rules. Their parents grew pot underneath the kitchen sink. A swing hung from the ceiling. 
The story follows the four children from early childhood through the middle school years as they begin to come of age. Their parents divorce, subsequent lovers, and visits to their wealthy (and very different) grandparents' homes all add to the children's view of the world and their view of their parents as well.
I enjoyed this book. However, the switching back and forth between first and third person points of view was distracting. I'd love to know what became of the children and their parents in later years. (You know it's a good story when you are left wondering what happened later.)

Read this book if:
*you love stories that take place in the 1970's
*you love stories about the hippies/ counter-culture of the 1970's


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