I can hardly believe this is a debut, this is a wonderful and enriching story set in the pre civil war South. The Good Morning America pick, I bet Jenna and Oprah and Reese wanted it as well. It checks all the boxes- strong female main character, tragedy, hope, a lesson for all of us and cross-genre. With beautiful sweeping descriptions, readable internal dialogue, this novel invests time into character development and a solid plot. It reads almost like a mystery, although there are elements of magical realism, romance, and literary fiction. I would shelve it under historical fiction, as the setting is necessary to the history of the time.
This doesn’t whitewash the horrors of enslaved people in the American south, it covers the time in a respectful yet haunting way. The splitting up of families is heartbreaking and a warning siren for our dark days today.
Junie is a 16 year old maid to Violet McQueen, the daughter of the plantation. They are living with debt and the way out is to marry Violet off to Mr. Taylor. It never occurred to me that when a girl was married her maid would leave the farm and go to the new home, away from her family. Junie’s sister Minnie died suddenly, leaving a hole in her heart and family. June blames herself for her death, and cannot come to terms with her present circumstances and future hope. There is also a heartwrenching theme of colorism, or the racism even within the community of enslaved people with a preference for
lighter color skin rather than a darker complexion.
I loved the complicated relationship between Violet and Junie, who taught Junie to read. Other characters; Minnie, Bess, Caleb, were all such strong voices and rounded out her community.
If you enjoy historical fiction about female friendships, this is not one to miss.
Leave a Reply