Susan Juby, a notable teen author, is moving into adult novels, and bringing her keen sense of humour along for the ride.
The Woefield Poultry Collective
by Susan Juby
ISBN: 978 1 55468 744 2
Audience: older teens and adults
An earnest young woman from Brooklyn with little to no experience in the world, let alone the world of agriculture, inherits a barren, unworked and nearly unworkable farm on Salt Spring Island… It could almost be the start of a joke, and it sort of is, since what follows is very, very funny.
As soon as Prudence arrives, she meets Earl, the handyman who has been “helping” not work the farm, and Seth, an unsocial, alcoholic young blogger who moves out of his mother’s house and shows up on her new doorstep looking for a place. Soon after, this unlikely trio is joined by a young girl named Sara and her chickens, looking for a place to keep them and a little bit of escape from her disintegrating family life.
The story is told in all four voices, and while the material is good to start with, this is the part that made the book for me, because each voice is just pitch-perfect.
- Prudence: is full of energy and ideals, and has great big dreams about how all of this will unfold. That these have to change a little along the way to deal with the occasional, unfortunate intrusion of real life is besides the point for her, and she attacks each new direction with the enthusiasm of the truly clueless
- Sara: is a very serious young girl, newly impressed with religion, and still in that phase of childhood during which rules are very important.Her insights into the adult characters can be pretty funny, and occasionally more insightful than you’d expect. She comes with a tinge of sadness, though, that makes the others take her under their wing.
- Seth: has some issues that badly need dealing with, but is impressed and somewhat in awe of Prudence, as his drive and eagerness are way below the surface, though he comes through with surprising flashes of brilliance and saves things more than once.
- Earl: might be my favourite, here, because he reminds my of some elderly, farm-dwelling relatives of mine who never wasted a word if they could help it. Gruff, unwilling, and trying hard to be an island unto himself, Earl nonetheless gets dragged into Prudence’s schemes and like the other characters, ends up being far more than he first appeared, too.
This new foray into adult literature is light reading (still accessible to her teen fans, I would say), but great fun, and coming on the heels of an addiction memoir, makes me wonder what Ms. Juby will try out next. Meanwhile, I’m going back and reading any of her teen fiction that I missed, because I have been enjoying her work so thoroughly.
Look for a review of her memoir Nice Recovery and a Q & A with the author coming up soon!
Great review. I loved this book, too. Your review reminded me of several small details I had forgotten about the book and characters. Thanks!