A grown woman’s bittersweet nostalgia for the wildness of her youth.
The summer Berie was fifteen, she and her best friend Sils had jobs at Storyland in upstate New York where Berie sold tickets to see the beautiful Sils portray Cinderella in a strapless evening gown. They spent their breaks smoking, joking, and gossiping. After work they followed their own reckless rules, teasing the fun out of small town life, sleeping in the family station wagon, and drinking borrowed liquor from old mayonnaise jars. But no matter how wild, they always managed to escape any real danger—until the adoring Berie sees that Sils really does need her help—and then everything changes.
The 40-year-old protagonist remembers an adolescent year with her best friend (a depiction of female friendship, as she reveals that she and her husband are having difficulties that only couples in literary novels have, cerebral and pointless. However, when talking about her childhood, the book is populated with strong supporting characters who make us fall in love all the more with Berie, as good a teenage protagonist that you can find.
It is generally about estrangement of all types, and friendship, and the shelf life of such things.
What Has Been Read Cannot Be Unread 