Crown

 Evanthia Bromiley

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Literary Fiction

Crown is the debut novel of Evanthia Bromiley, and it follows the story of Jude, a pregnant single mother of 9-year-old twins, Evan and Virginia. This small family is facing an eviction from their trailer park home. It is a story of hardship and struggle.

Without getting into the details, this tale is very relevant in today’s world. This family experiences many difficulties, be it the cut-off of the electricity, the risk of the children being taken away from the mother, or the complications of a pregnancy. All these challenges occur simultaneously.

The writing style is beautiful and has emotional depth to it, despite the book not being a long one. The author concentrates on many themes like poverty, resilience, motherhood, and struggle. What I appreciate about this story is that it sheds light on the lives of marginalized communities in the United States. This is something that not many books do.

Yes, there will be moments that you, as a reader, will feel tense due to the theme, which involves dealing with trauma and child endangerment, but we have to remember this is not fantasy, and whatever happened to this family is also happening to real people, if not worse. 

The story is narrated from multiple perspectives, which helps us understand the emotional states of the characters. Though short, this book is hard to read because of its subject, but it is vital for understanding others' struggles. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book.