Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue

This audiobook was the first ARC I received after joining NetGalley so that is very exciting! Here's my review:

I will admit I am not the target audience for this book. Historical fiction is not a genre I usually gravitate towards—but I was drawn in by the title. And I really enjoyed this book! If you ARE a historical fiction reader, and especially if you happen to be from Vancouver, I think you will love this.

The first few chapters were slow for me, as I had trouble keeping track of all the characters (I think this would not have been an issue if I had been reading the paper book instead of an audiobook) and multiple plot lines. The book starts in the middle of many stories, throwing the reader right into the sisters' lives and providing backstory peppered in throughout, rather than moving chronologically and giving the context first. I liked this approach once I had a handle on who everyone was.

The characters are almost all nuanced and balanced, with even the most frustrating characters having redeeming moments, and no character being all good. The author chose to write most of the book in third person with the exception of two first person characters—one of the sisters, and a dog. I really liked the chapters told from the dog's point of view, it added a whimsical quality to an otherwise intensely realistic story. Although it took a bit of time to get into it, it was ultimately the real, honest, and messy relationships between the characters that kept me reading.

The writing style manages to incorporate a large vocabulary without ever sounding overdone or pretentious. At times it is very beautiful.

The book is centred around on multiple issues: feminism, reproductive rights, LGBTQ experiences, etc, and all are woven inextricably into the story, without ever feeling shoehorned in (I hate when books feel preachy, even if I agree with what they are preaching). The only area where I felt like more could have been said was to do with the character of Flore. She is the wealthiest of the main characters, and is also the one most involved in labour organizing, attending meetings about workers' rights etc. At one point another character (Harriet) calls out her privilege, expressing frustration that Flore doesn't seem to realize how serious it would be if Harriet was fired from her job. It would have been interesting to see more exploration of this...
The conflict between women wanting/needing access to abortion/birth control and others (mainly men) not understanding how dire this is, was well written. I also would have liked to see more of how that conflict played out politically (a few times there was mention of characters attending talks etc about these issues but we were never brought there as a reader).

If you like audiobook readers who sound very emotionally invested in the story (dynamic/not flat) you will like the audiobook.

Lastly I will say, because of all the different plot lines interwoven, I think this would make a really good mini-series or show...I could imagine it while listening. I would watch!

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC! I feel like a real book reviewer