Lucky Bunny – Book Review

Lucky Bunny by Jill Dawson
Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 30, 2012)
Genre: Fiction
Trade paperback, 384 pages

My Thoughts:

I am not quite sure how I feel about this book. I think when I read the back of the book, I was expecting it to be more of an action and adventure book. I still enjoyed it, and thought it was very thought provoking, but just different than I was expecting. Sometimes, when I see or hear about a person who has a really complicated life, I wonder what their childhood was like. Not to say its always on their parents shoulders, but sometimes I wonder what events happen to shape a persons life as an adult. I am strangely addicted to Intervention, a tv show about addiction, because I want to see how the people’s choices, influences, and experiences shape their futures.

Although Queenie had a hard life, full of abuse, abandonment, starvation, and death, I loved her perspective on this thought. “Once, at the Approved School, I remember Sister Grey saying to Sister Catherine, after looking at the files for a new admission and sighing theatrically, “How come all these street girls claim to have been abused by their fathers or uncles? I ask you – how statistically likely is that?” Based on my experience running the club, based on the Approved School, based on Ruth and Stella and everyone I knew at the time, I’d say: very.”

I also found her logic and emotions on abusive relationships very insightful. “As long as you stay, you’re convinced you can manage him, appease him, control him, match him, keep him sweet in some way. Leave, or try to, and his threats become real.”

The story was written well, I love the slang vocabulary like ‘gel’ for girl and ‘leg it’ for running.

I like that Queenie is non conformist. She doesn’t want to get married to a man just because she has a child with him. She is scared to leave him, but still wont marry him. This is also in a time where marriage was what you did. If you weren’t married you weren’t allowed to keep your own child. You were looked down on, and society didn’t really know what to do with you, in a sense. I love that she beats to her own drum, and stands up for her convictions.

Overall, this wasn’t my very favorite book, and it took me a bit to really get in to it (I blame my preconceived ideas of the type of book) it was still a really thought provoking book. It did have some bad language, scenes, and adult topics. Just a heads up.

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