My Amazon review of The Burning Girl (Rated 4): Sifting Through the Ashes of Friendship – Claire Messud captures the intensity of pre-adolescent female friendship and the pain that follows its inexplicable dissolution. As Julia, the smart protagonist, puzzles over the loss of her best friend Cassie, at once her soul mate and her opposite, readers glimpse the wise woman Julia will become. One wishes only for a few more singe marks to burn this book into memory.
