Friends, Junie had me worried for a bit.
She’s sixteen and has spent her entire life on Bellereine Plantation, Alabama. She helps her family cook and clean and also tends to the master’s daughter, Violet, who taught her how to read and write. Junie spends her time off writing poetry and escaping to nature to grieve her sister Minnie, who died suddenly some months prior. Junie and Violet grew up together as best friends and THINK they know everything about each other.
Junie’s simple, boring existence is threatened when wealthy guests visit from New Orleans with a possible marriage proposal for Violet. In an act of desperation, Junie rouses Minnie’s spirit, which is tethered to this world unless she convinces a reluctant Junie to free her. She tells Junie of Bellereine’s dark secrets and her heartbreaking decision, but will that be enough to motivate Junie?
Bellereine is tame compared to other plantations, so Junie’s family is complacent. They’ve accepted this life and view Junie’s dreaming as dangerous. They’re afraid to run because of what happens to people who are caught. But although the mistress does not whip them, she can tear them apart at her whim. They have no agency. Violet claims to think of Junie as a sister, but “it ain’t real love if you gotta own the person to keep em with you.”
So, I wondered what it would take for Junie to make like Harriet and leave her family. Violet’s under a lot of pressure to do right by her family, but her secrets have consequences for Junie’s family. These two visitors change the dynamics of Bellereine. Between falling for the guests’ coachman Caleb and her horrific findings about the plantation, when will Junie realize that “enduring horror to love within the margins” is not enough? Time is ticking.
She’s filled with rage but keeps looking out for Violet, who’s never known her struggles. She and poets like Keats can marvel at the beauty of the land because they have freedom.
This could be an allegory for allyship. A true ally will risk their life for you. There is an example of one such ally in the story. It’s not Violet.
TW: slavery, racial slurs, violence, death, murder, suicide
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