The patriarchal hierarchy of women puts such lusty wenches as these right down at the bottom and it is common to picture a prostitute as a tragic and doomed character like Fantine from Les Misérables. Sepetys introduces a number of lively and colourful characters into this story, from the fierce and wonderful Willie who runs the brothel to the shameless and hilarious Dora who works there. Josie longs to escape from 'The Big Easy' and go to college but she is forever being pulled back by her mother and her ties to the brothel where she works as housekeeper. The setting is 1950s New Orleans and the protagonist is the teenage daughter of a prostitute - and possibly the worst mother ever.
Or loathed, but either will keep me interested in a novel's outcome. Out of The Easy is similar in that the characters are the main focus and the plot is slowly built around them. When people died it was sad because, you know, it's sad when people die, not because I really cared about the characters. My cold heart felt nothing more than the general human sympathy we all typically feel for others who suffer. Both are character-driven novels and even though there were numerous threats to the characters' survival in Between Shades of Gray, the plot is slow-moving and your ability to enjoy it depends on some connection with the characters. I confess that I was one of the few people who struggled to fully appreciate Between Shades of Gray (I know, I suck) but I had no such problem with Ruta Sepetys' second novel and I think I finally understand what it was about the first that failed for me and why this one delivered: the characters. From the bright lights and dazzling atmosphere of Libba Bray's 1920s supernatural murder mystery - The Diviners - to the character-driven story of a Wales occupied by England - The Wicked and the Just - to a creepy ghost story set at the time of the First World War - In the Shadow of Blackbirds - and now this. But, after discovering goodreads and getting awesome recommendations as well as hearing about books I would otherwise never have known about, I've ran into a series of books that have proved I was wrong about this genre. It had long been a genre that just didn't appeal to me. If you'd asked me about historical fiction two years ago, I would have told you it wasn't my thing.
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