STYRON, Alexandra 1966-

PERSONAL: Born 1966, in New Haven CT; daughter of William (a writer) and Rose (a poet) Styron; married. Education: Barnard College, B.A. (theater), 1987; Columbia University, M.F.A. (creative writing).

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail Little, Brown and Company, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Writer, actress. Worked as a receptionist, personal trainer, and tutor.

WRITINGS:

All the Finest Girls, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2001.

ADAPTATIONS: All the Finest Girls was adapted as an audiobook, read by the author, Brilliance Audio, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Alexandra Styron's debut novel All the Finest Girls was called "a journey back from a dark childhood of mental dementia to liberation at maturity's crossroads" by Booklist's Elsa Gaztambide. Addy Abraham, single and in her early thirties, works for a Manhattan museum restoring paintings. As the story begins, she is preparing to travel to St. Clair to attend the funeral of Louise Alfred, the black West Indian woman who had been her nanny in her childhood Connecticut home. Louise had substituted for Addy's emotionally absent parents, a self-absorbed actress mother and a similarly distant professor father. Addy had been a willful, wild child, and Louise the only person who had been able to handle her.

New Leader reviewer Rosellen Brown wrote that "intercutting scenes from Addy's emotionally parched childhood, Styron gives the reader a rich introduction to the West Indian culture that sometimes overwhelms and frightens the sheltered Addy, and just as often thrills her with its warmth, its music and food, and the charm of its language."

When Addy arrives on the island, Louise's relatives, whom Addy mistakenly views as some kind of extended family, offer her a room in their home for the few days she will be there. Addy's illusions are shattered when Louise's son Derek ridicules her and tells her that his mother did not care for the crazy, little white girl out of love, but for the money. In truth, Louise's main reason for leaving her sons behind to work in Connecticut was because of her breakup with their father.

"Styron is straightforward about the shades of white, brown, and black that divide her characters," wrote Suzy Hansen in Salon.com, "and on this topic she's accomplished something remarkable. Louise's differences … don't become a subject of curiosity for Addy until she and Louise visit a church together, and the girl discovers that in a place where everyone is supposedly equal before God, Louise somehow isn't."

A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that "Styron's gift is to make the reader feel real grief for her characters and real relief for Addy when she begins to make a peace with herself and her parents." Library Journal's Eleanor J. Bader called All the Finest Girls a "wise novel, told simply and nonrhetorically. … A terrific debut by a stunning writer." In a New York Times Book Review article, Mark Lindquist noted that "the writing here is frequently accomplished, and the insights wise."

Styron is the daughter of noted poet Rose Styron and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer William Styron. In an interview with Writer's Digest's Kelly Nickell, Styron said, "I feel very much aware of the weight of my parents' legacy. I recognize that more eyes will be on me because of it. And more eyes will be on me from a potentially more critical point of view because of it. And that's a big obstacle to climb. But, to be completely frank, I am not unconscious of the fact that it also gives me an advantage, and I hope I don't take that for granted."

Nickell wrote of All the Finest Girls, "Though she weaves in universal coming-of-age themes like acceptance, forgiveness, and the acknowledgment of one's future, the book is a blend of fiction and autobiographical fragments—a combination Styron says is necessary to produce strong fiction. … Though she stresses that little of the actual story is based on fact, the author says her own closeness to her childhood nanny … 'very much informed the writing of that part of the book.'"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2001, Elsa Gaztambide, review of All the Finest Girls, p. 1669.

Library Journal, April 1, 2001, Eleanor J. Bader, review of All the Finest Girls, p. 134.

New Leader, May, 2001, Rosellen Brown, review of All the Finest Girls, p. 41.

New York Times Book Review, July 15, 2001, Mark Lindquist, review of All the Finest Girls, p. 22.

Poets & Writers, July-August, 2001, Carolyn T. Hughes, "Literary Tastings: A Flight of First Fiction," p. 38.

Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2001, review of All the Finest Girls, p. 49.

Writer's Digest, August, 2001, Kelly Nickell, "Introducing Alexandra Styron" (interview), pp. 9, 36.

ONLINE

Salon.com,http://www.salon.com/ (June 22, 2001), Suzy Hansen, review of All the Finest Girls.*