I’m going to warn you now: clear
your calendar before you start this book. I read it on a lazy Saturday
afternoon, and it’s the best book I’ve read so far this year (2017).
The premise is the imagined
inspiration behind children’s author Margaret Wise Brown’s classic tale, Goodnight Moon, which turns 70 years old
this year. When Brown died in 1952 (at the age of 42, from an embolism after
suffering from appendicitis),the history of the little book was lost.
In this tale, June Andersen, a
high-powered banking VP in New York, learns from her great-aunt Ruby’s lawyer
that she has passed away…many months ago.
Her dippy mother never bothered to call with the sad news. The lawyer
states in his letter that Ruby has left her beloved bookstore, Bluebird Book,
and its contents and all her worldly possessions.
June flies to Seattle with every
intention of selling the bookstore, or at the very least liquidating the assets
and returning to her life, where her work is everything. When she arrives at
the bookstore, happy (and some sad) childhood memories return, making June
question her lifestyle choices, and her past.
She finds a letter from Ruby that
sends her on a scavenger hunt to find letters between Brown (whom she called
Brownie) and herself. As she uncovers the letters, Ruby’s secrets, along with
some of June’s, are unveiled. It won’t hurt to have a box of tissues handy.
Goodnight
June is a wonderful novel. The dualing
timelines (one of my favorite writerly strategies) makes the reader feel as
she/he is right there with Ruby and Brownie. ASs I read, I kept wanting to head
to the internet to find out what aspects of the story are real and what are
imagined, but I always had to stop myself and remember that the entire story
(except for Magaret Wise Brown and the titles of her books) is fiction.
I hope that you love this story as
much as I did. Goodnight June get 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
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