Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Yesterday, while in the car waiting for my 5th grader after school, I finished reading The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1. It’s taken me longer than it should have because, well, life, but overall, I think it lives up to the hype. Emma is highly entertaining, her neighborhood enjoyably eccentric, and her life situation rife with possibility. While Beth Brower’s choice to introduce events in capital letters pages before she explains said events is a perfectly fair plot device, however, it does complicate how much of the premise one can share without spoilers. Let’s see…

Emma is a young woman in 1883 in anticipation of her 21st birthday, when she will come into possession of her inheritance. Upon her recent return to London, her cousin Archibald’s frustrating behavior intimates that all may not be smooth sailing–and that’s about what I can easily say without giving anything away. This first volume in a series that multiple people have recommended to me is short (just over a hundred pages) but alluring; I couldn’t possibly leave it there. (Although there may be quite the wait before the second book comes in at the library.)

To be fair, I do have a criticism or two beyond the font size, which my no-longer-young eyes did not appreciate, but they’re relatively minor. Emma’s voice as a convincing 19th-century young lady is occasionally uneven, and the expression (used only once, but still) ‘come hell or high water’ is jarringly American. My enjoyment of the book, however, was not significantly marred. If you haven’t given Emma M. Lion a try yet, well–what are you waiting for?