I Only Mark the Hours that Shine: Little Edie's 1929 Diary
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I Only Mark the Hours that Shine: Little Edie's 1929 Diary
I Only Mark the Hours that Shine is the diary of Little Edie Beale, written in 1929, begun when she was eleven years old.
From the book jacket:
Little Edie had a very outgoing personality. One can feel her innocence and precociousness by experiencing her world through her journal, which is both poignant and captivating.
While on the surface it might seem that she had all the material possessions a girl could wish for, she often expressed an internal longing for growth on a more personal level. We can often catch glimpses of the woman we would later come to know through the subsequent story of her life at Grey Gardens.
She reveals a very strong love and attachment for her mother, a passion for dance, and endures numerous bouts of illness, requiring days of confinement. Despite her fragile health, she is a good swimmer and tennis player and wins her share of tournaments. 1929 finds Edie becoming more and more aware of boys and falling in love with a particular East Hampton summer boy.
We see a somber event unfolding in one entry entitled, “A Death,†on the day her great grandmother passes away. For an eleven year old, her reflection on the woman’s life is memorable and touching.
Parties at Grey Gardens are described in detail when all the guests have rolled up the carpet to dance and Little Edie’s idea of a splendid evening is stealing away to her mother’s room where she tries on all the coats and wraps.
During the year, life passages happen on a routine basis and she is astute at recording them, either deaths of loved ones, or the birth of still another cousin, one whose name happens to be Jacqueline Bouvier.