Junie: A GMA Book Club Pick
A Novel
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4.4 • 144 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • As the Civil War looms, a young girl must face a life-altering decision after awakening her sister’s ghost in this “poignant story of love, family and friendship [that] celebrates the power of liberation” (People).
“An enrapturing tale of survival . . . Eckstine has poured a ton of heart into her characters.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“The richly textured prose quickly pulled me into [Junie’s] treacherous yet magical world.”—Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake
Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.
When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.
With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Just before the Civil War, magic and rebellion take root within a young enslaved woman in this historical slice of magical realism. In an 1860 Alabama plantation owned by a neglectful alcoholic, 16-year-old house slave Junie is grieving for her older sister, Minnie, and wracked with guilt for the role she thinks she played in Minnie’s death. She faces further upheaval when the household’s 17-year-old daughter, Violet, is betrothed to a rich man in Louisiana—because if they marry, Junie, as Violet’s maid, will have to go with her. Then Junie accidentally rouses her sister’s ghost, and her desperate quest to free Minnie from spiritual limbo causes Junie to consider embarking on her own quest for freedom. We were instantly drawn into author Erin Crosby Eckstine’s sensitive portrayal of Junie, based on Eckstine’s own great-great-great-grandmother and featured prominently in the family stories told by her grandmother. This tale of hope and bravery shines a light in the darkness. We loved it.
Customer Reviews
Bonito.
Junie de Erin Crosby Eckstine fue una lectura lenta al inicio, pero que terminó valiendo la pena.
Estoy más acostumbrada a rom-coms y finales felices, así que esta historia fue diferente. Al ser ficción histórica, hubo momentos difíciles de procesar al pensar que fue la realidad de muchas personas.
No es una lectura ligera, pero sí una que deja huella.
Excellent book
Excellent
Riveting and moving
I loved this book. It’s an excellent read and Junie has so much depth. I loved it