Proceed With Caution:
This book contains period-typical racism, a mention of rape, and violence.
The Basics:
Set in 1890 Atlanta, The Downstairs Girl follows seventeen-year-old Jo, a Chinese American girl just trying to get by. But certain events lead to her stepping up, finding her voice and her family.
My Thoughts:
The Downstairs Girl is a very subtle novel. What I mean is that there's no big plot or sweeping romance. There is a good plot, but it takes a long time to come together. There is some romantic elements, but not a full-blown romance. When we meet Jo, she's being fired from her job as a milliner and she's been blacklisted from all of the other millinerys in the city. She didn't do anything wrong. She's just an opinionated Chinese girl and that's enough for her boss. Not all is lost though as she overhears a very promising conversation in the newspaper press above the basement where she lives with Old Gin, her adoptive father.
Jo is going to become the new advice columnist! Of course, she has to remain anonymous, but this gives her a way to help out the family that doesn't know she's been living in their basement for years. And she can voice opinions that she'd never get to say in her everyday life, such as pushes for gender and racial equality! Obviously being unmasked is one of the minor plot points, but it all works out in the end.
There is small and adorable romance blossoming in The Downstairs Girl. Jo has a crush on the boy who lives and works upstairs. They've had a couple of run ins, but she knows nothing can happen. However, when she's disguised as Miss Sweetie, the two can flirt with word play and puns! They're too freaking cute! There's no drama between them, no "you lied to me" nonsense. It's just sweet cuteness and I wish there was more. And he has a dog named Bear who helps push them together!
I just really enjoyed The Downstairs Girl. It was a pleasant way to spend my day watching Jo come into herself, uncover the truth and fight for those who can't fight for themselves in the small ways that she can.