Junie

“Junie” by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Published by Ballantine Books
 
I greatly enjoyed this historical fiction.  It is a story of pre-Civil War slavery, focused on house and stable slaves rather than those working in the fields.   As with any story related to slavery, there is some violence but it’s not a regular occurrence throughout the book.  Instead, there is more focus of the family dynamics of both slaves and owners as well as the relationship between the main character, Junie, and her mistress. At times it reminded me of “The Kitchen House”, which I absolutely loved.  This wasn’t quite up to par with that book, so I had to give it a 4 instead of a 5 but I did enjoy it and definitely recommend it.
 
Please make sure to read the Author’s Note at the back of the book once you finish reading it for an insight into her inspiration for writing it.
 
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the complimentary copy of this book.  As always, the opinions expressed within this review are completely my own.  The book will be released on 2/4/25.
 
Finished 1/25/25 – 4/5 stars
 
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