By Larissa Page
It’s the 1930s in the east end of Vancouver, Hogan’s Alley, and 13-year-old Junie has just moved with her mother Maddie to the alley. She begins to meet friends such as Estelle, her new classmate and soon-to-be best friend, Mr. Andrew, the book shop owner, and Miss Shirley, her new teacher. We follow Junie with snippets from Maddie, Faye (Estelle’s mother), Estelle, and Shirley as she grows and comes of age into a stronger young woman working to get out from under her problematic mother’s thumb.
One of the things I enjoyed about Junie was the emphasis on women working exceptionally hard to follow their dreams, fight for their rights (for a side character), and shirk the expectation that they need a man around to be successful—even in the 1930s. It’s unfortunate that this drive ended up impacting the relationships within the book the way they did, but I appreciate how the author highlighted the struggle and sacrifices for women fighting their way to the top as performers and business owners.
The written form of this book is unique. The chapters are short and written in the third person, but at the end of each chapter that focuses on Junie, there is a short blurb written in the first person, like a little look inside her head. The other characters also have these little insights after their chapters (which are not numbered chapters like Junie’s) but remain in the third person. This form was an interesting choice, like nothing I’ve read before, but unfortunately it didn’t really work for me. I found it took away from the story a little rather than added to it.
I enjoyed part of Junie’s growth throughout the novel, her coming of age, and acceptance of herself. I enjoyed her development as an artist. I wish it had been a bit deeper and fuller though. While I liked that she did grow apart from her mother, and I understood those confusing feelings she had, I wish we had seen a little farther into her future and how that continued to play out. Additionally, I found the other characters in the story to be fairly flat.
I wanted to love this one, the cover art is beautiful and intriguing, and I love a story where the setting can grow to be its own character as this one sounded like could have done. Unfortunately, while I believe some readers will love it, it wasn’t quite for me.
Thank you, Book Hug Press, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.