Joan Lear Sher
Last Updated on June 7, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 134
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Ruth Ann's father has always been "the only important person in her world." [In "Girl in the Mirror"], for the first time since her mother died, her closeness to him is strained. Her father's interest in a slim, graceful young nurse drives Ruth Ann into fits of depression—and fits of eating…. Eventually, her father's remarriage and the tragic events that follow force Ruth to take an active interest in life, and to realize that her future is in her own hands. Zoa Sherburne's poignant picture of a girl who has retreated from reality is well drawn, although Ruth Ann sometimes tends to be a parlor analyst, and at other times is incredibly naive.
Joan Lear Sher, in a review of "Girl in the Mirror," in The New York Times Book Review, November 6, 1966, p. 20.