The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
by Stacey Lee
Jo Kuan and her guardian are rare in 1890 Atlanta. Chinese in a sea of white southerners and recently freed but servile black ex-slaves, Jo gets by with Old Gin by working as a milliner in a small shop. Old Gin works as a horse trainer and carer for the Payne family, where Jo once worked as well until she was let go. When she is fired from the shop she finds herself rehired by Mrs. Payne to be a maid to her haughty and mean daughter, Caroline.
Jo does her duty, but finds a way to ease her struggles with Caroline when it is revealed that the young miss is clandestinely meeting with a young man who is off the market.
Jo and Old Gin squat in the barn basement attached to the house of the Bells who run a local newspaper, which is in danger of closing and in need of new subscriptions. Jo overhears the family's conversations. It is the beginning of Jim Crow and the women's suffrage movement in Atlanta and Jo has opinions which she secretly shares in articles slipped to the progressive Bells. The letters are published under the pseudonym Miss Sweetie. Subscriptions go up!
Jo eventually has to navigate hiding her Miss Sweetie identity as she works for the Paynes. As the story unfolds, Jo uncovers a bunch of secrets about her past; secrets Old Gin had been keeping from her regarding old debts, her father, her mother, and who Jo really is. As a historical YA novel, this one has all that you would expect: scandal, snobby girls, attractive and devious men, and a young girl's journey to self-discovery. It does what it sets out to do.
The writing was fine, but the author loves her metaphors, quips, and euphemisms. All are used a little too much for my liking. I found myself rolling my eyes a few times. Comparisons and jokes are fine, but they can be overdone. The story was good and the plot was interesting with an original concept and a good twist near the climax. The characters are okay, but not particularly memorable. There are a lot of stories with characters like these. Feasible? Maybe, maybe not.
The Downstairs Girl is a solid read for someone who likes to read the genre. I didn't have strong feelings about it. For me, it gets 3.5 stars. Good, but not great.
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