Reunion: The Girls We Used to Be, the Women We Became

Fishel's collective memoir provides a worthwhile glimpse into a misunderstood generation of elite and well-educated--but disappointed--women. Intimately portraying 10 of her cohorts from the prestigious Brearley School (class of '68), she illuminates the struggles and triumphs of what she calls an ""in-between generation, neither as traditional nor as radical as the generations that buttress it."" Eager to understand their collective history, Fishel tries to name the sort of women they became: there's ""the untraditional traditionalist,"" ""the unconventional career-tracker,"" ""the seeker"" and ""the juggler."" Although Fishel's labels seem forced at times, the stories she tells resonate. In her classmates' lives she finds a series of surprising and emotionally charged stories about adolescent angst and teenage depression; particularly moving is her portrait of twins Lily (who struggled unsuccessfully with paralyzing depression) and Alice ( who transcended adolescent traumas with grace). Fishel poignantly recalls the artistic and sensitive Lily--who committed suicide the day after she was released from a psychiatric facility--and reflects on Alice's belief that Lily would still be alive if only she'd had access to today's medicine cabinet. Though Fishel has a tendency to restate her thesis more times than is necessary, her book is an engaging and illuminating look into the lives of these ""daughters of contradictions,"" and into the world that shaped them. (Mar.)