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A review by foraging_pages
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
5.0
New Orleans, 1950.
You divide your time between a bookshop & brothel.
People all around you are dying.
The mob is at your door demanding retribution.
............Spoilers Ahead.............
Josie just wanted to get out of New Orleans where bad memories lie, danger is always near, and happiness falters. She wanted to find her biological father, go to college, make something of herself so she could be seen as something besides the daughter of a well-known whore. When worlds begin to collide, everything simple becomes complicated and everything complicated seems easy.
Things to love about this novel:
The historical element - 1950, between the Second World War and the impending Korean War
The setting - the Quarter, New Orleans
The diverse characters - daughter of a prostitute; author/bookshop owner losing his mind; teen girl attending progressive all-female university; whore house madam - to name a few. The compilation of the lowest of the low with the uptown folk makes for an all too realistic travesty.
The murder element - wealthy, handsome, intelligent, healthy gentlemen keels over in a nightclub when his belongings are found in the whore house.
What I admire about Sepetys is the way she writes young characters (15 - 18) as mature because of their trauma and experiences. She is able to make it believable while keeping them young enough that they are relevant in the YA world. Trauma matures most, and Sepetys doesn’t hold back with the traumatic events.
You divide your time between a bookshop & brothel.
People all around you are dying.
The mob is at your door demanding retribution.
............Spoilers Ahead.............
Josie just wanted to get out of New Orleans where bad memories lie, danger is always near, and happiness falters. She wanted to find her biological father, go to college, make something of herself so she could be seen as something besides the daughter of a well-known whore. When worlds begin to collide, everything simple becomes complicated and everything complicated seems easy.
Things to love about this novel:
The historical element - 1950, between the Second World War and the impending Korean War
The setting - the Quarter, New Orleans
The diverse characters - daughter of a prostitute; author/bookshop owner losing his mind; teen girl attending progressive all-female university; whore house madam - to name a few. The compilation of the lowest of the low with the uptown folk makes for an all too realistic travesty.
The murder element - wealthy, handsome, intelligent, healthy gentlemen keels over in a nightclub when his belongings are found in the whore house.
What I admire about Sepetys is the way she writes young characters (15 - 18) as mature because of their trauma and experiences. She is able to make it believable while keeping them young enough that they are relevant in the YA world. Trauma matures most, and Sepetys doesn’t hold back with the traumatic events.