Good Girls Curtsy

By: Dena Nicotra

Narrated by: Kendra Murray

MayVee Baker has lived by the rules that shaped the edges and sharpened the corners of her existence since the earliest days of her childhood. Common courtesies, pleasantries, etiquette, and smooth manners formed her behavior and served as her compass. Even if it meant silencing her voice and sacrificing her own needs. She lost herself along the way.

Now she will need to challenge everything she knows to find herself, live the life she deserves, and raise her daughter to know how to slay her own dragons.

Acceptance, understanding, forgiveness, and grace open a pathway to finding our true selves.

©2020 Dena Nicotra (P)2020 Dena Nicotra

Gratifying story of a woman discovering herself

When Good Girls Curtsy came across my radar, naturally, I was first drawn to the eye-catching cover. Plus, the synopsis promises an interesting story with a short time investment required; the paperback is only a hundred and thirty-seven pages, and !BONUS! it’s on audio and clocks in at just under five and a half hours of listening.

What listeners are treated to is impeccable narration performed by Kendra Murray, whose pacing is perfect and who encapsulated all the facets of Ms. May Vivian Baker. We spend a lot of time in the head of MayVee, and Murray nails the nuances of our main character. Seeing Kendra Murray’s name as a narrator would definitely be an enticement for me to listen to another book.

Initially, readers meet a painfully timid creature who seemingly has no spine to stand up for herself, speak for herself, or even make her own decisions. Quite honestly, she doesn’t seem to be living much. She has her routines – almost ritualistic in them -- and a comfort zone, and she functions by mirroring the strict rules she was taught growing up. Inch by inch, author Dena Nicotra paints the picture of MayVee by using small words to give us vivid impressions: toothpaste speckles on the mirror, but a meticulous dresser; mousy hair but carefully styled.

Nearly halfway into the story, I was still not sure what Good Girls Curtsy was about – is it just a peek in the life of an ordinary person? There doesn't seem to be anything quirky or remarkable about her or her life, and even a big reveal doesn’t provide much of a shake-up. There’s not much action, yet… the story isn’t boring. Readers see MayVee journey through events that take her outside of her comfort zone, shoving her right into LIFE, and we see her find her courage and voice and purpose, and it’s gratifying. Also gratifying is that as more vibrant characters come into MayVee’s life, MayVee, too, becomes more vibrant. And Nicotra gives us an Epilogue that provides the closure that readers absolutely need, in order to part ways with the characters. Love a book that's tied up neatly.

Nicotra’s storytelling is well-done, and her gift for description enriches the story. For example, a nursing home where the smell “hung in the air like rotting hope” is all too vivid a description. And to that end, the secondary storyline involving MayVee’s mother was where some of the best and most poignant pieces of Nicotra’s writing shines through. Many of these parts of the book are what still stick with me long after finishing.

Listening to Good Girls Curtsy is time well-spent and provides a quick fly-on-the-wall escape into one woman’s journey of breaking free from the confines of her upbringing.