Chelene Knight

Junie

Junie explores her artistic talents and sexuality while her mother's alcoholism threatens their community in Vancouver's Hogan's Alley.

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Summary

A riveting exploration of the complexity within mother-daughter relationships and the dynamic vitality of Vancouver's former Hogan's Alley neighbourhood.1930s, Hogan's Alley-a thriving Black and immigrant community located in Vancouver's East End. Junie is a creative, observant child who moves to the alley with her mother, Maddie: a jazz singer with a growing alcohol dependency. Junie quickly makes meaningful relationships with two mentors and a girl her own age, Estelle, whose resilient and entrepreneurial mother is grappling with white scrutiny and the fact that she never really wanted a child.As Junie finds adulthood, exploring her artistic talents and burgeoning sexuality, her mother sinks further into the bottle while the thriving neighbourhood-once gushing with potential-begins to change. As her world opens, Junie intuits the opposite for the community she loves.Told through the fascinating lens of a bright woman in an oft-disquieting world, this book is intimate and urgent-not just an unflinching look at the destruction of a vibrant community, but a celebration of the Black lives within.

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Release date

15.05.2023

Imprint

Book*hug Press

Series

Genres

Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction

Moods

hopeful, sad

Keywords

mother-daughter relationships, Hogan's Alley, Black community, alcoholism, artistic talent