Junie: A GMA Book Club Pick
A Novel
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4.4 • 101 Ratings
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- $13.99
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Eckstine's finely crafted debut, an enslaved teen girl uncovers secrets about her family in 1860 Alabama. Junie labors with several relatives on a plantation, which is being run into the ground by its alcoholic owner, William McQueen. When Junie's older sister, Minnie, dies of fever after rescuing Junie from a river she'd fallen into, she's wracked with guilt. Junie serves as maid to William's 17-year-old daughter, Violet, whom William and his wife hope will marry wealthy Louisiana cotton merchant Beauregard Taylor. Junie learns that if the marriage goes through, she'll be forced to accompany Violet to New Orleans and leave her family behind. Distraught, she makes a late-night visit to Minnie's grave. When she opens the small jar of Minnie's favorite things left there by her relatives, she inadvertently summons Minnie's ghost. It turns out Minnie is caught in the In-Between, which holds the spirits of Black people who have left their earthly missions undone. Minnie asks Junie to help free her spirit by locating a small box she has hidden in the plantation house. Junie succeeds, and finds evidence that her family and the McQueens are linked in ways she never imagined, which, along with news of Violet's engagement, drive her desire to escape. The complex plot and righteous protagonist will keep readers turning the pages. Eckstine evokes the earthly and supernatural to equally powerful effect in this richly layered tale.
Customer Reviews
Excellent book
Excellent
Riveting and moving
I loved this book. It’s an excellent read and Junie has so much depth. I loved it