The plum queen by Laurel lathrop

The Plum Queen by Laurel Lathrop
⭐️ 3.75/5 stars
📖 Publication Date: April 20, 2027

Thank you to Random House for reaching out and providing me with an advance reading copy of this lovely debut novel!

I can see why this book was recommended to me based on my enjoyment of novels like The Homemade God and Buckeye. This is exactly that style of historical fiction that focuses intimately on one person, their relationships, and the ways their life unfolds against a backdrop of cultural and historical change.

It’s 1984, and Lenore has recently lost her husband, Howard. As she sits at home watching the Summer Olympics, she begins reflecting on her life and the three great loves who shaped it.

First, there’s Phoebe, her childhood best friend, with whom she shared an extraordinarily close bond before their lives took them in different directions. Then there’s Greta, a wild, angry, bohemian artist who challenged Lenore and helped her emerge from her shell. And finally, Howard, her husband and a professor of classics, with whom she built a life.

But I wouldn’t necessarily describe this as a novel about falling in and out of love. It’s much more about the evolution of one woman over the course of her lifetime, and how the people we love shape who we become.

Lenore is a fascinating character. She’s intellectually gifted, particularly when it comes to translation, but she’s never quite understood her place in the world. She doesn’t form connections easily, but the few relationships she does cultivate are incredibly meaningful. Each belongs to a different chapter of her life, and each reveals something about the woman she was at that particular moment.

I especially appreciated the historical perspective on what it meant to be a brilliant woman whose opportunities and sense of identity were shaped by the expectations of her time. There’s something poignant about watching Lenore, now widowed, revisit her life with the perspective that only age and experience can provide.

Lathrop’s prose is beautifully crafted, although I occasionally felt that it was almost too polished. I sometimes encounter this with debut novels, where every sentence feels so carefully considered and refined that the writing becomes a little more noticeable than the story itself. That’s not necessarily a criticism, just an observation about the reading experience.

Ultimately, The Plum Queen is a quiet, nostalgic, character-driven novel about love, friendship, identity, and the many versions of ourselves we inhabit throughout a lifetime.

It was a pleasant and thoughtful reading experience, with a compelling central character and a lovely sense of time and place. While it didn’t quite reach the emotional heights of some of my favorite literary historical fiction, I appreciated its tenderness and introspection.

3.75 stars. A lovely debut, particularly for readers who enjoy intimate, reflective stories about women’s lives and the relationships that define them.