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Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue
Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue: A Novel | Christine Higdon
10 posts | 3 read | 5 to read
Four working-class Vancouver sisters, still reeling from the impact of World War I and the pandemic that stole their only brother, are scraping by but attempting to make the most of the exciting 1920s. Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue is a love story -- but like all love stories, it's complicated ... Morag is pregnant; she loves her husband. Georgina can't bear hers and dreams of getting an education. Harriet-Jean, still at home with her opium-addicted mother, is in love with a woman. Isla's pregnant too -- and in love with her sister's husband. Only one soul knows about Isla's pregnancy, and it isn't the father. When Isla resorts to a back-street abortion and nearly dies, Llewellyn becomes hellbent on revenge. But can revenge lead to anything but disaster for a man like Llew -- a policeman tangled up in running rum to Prohibition America? Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue is immersed in the complex political and social realities of the 1920s and, not-so ironically, of the 2020s: love, sex, desire, police corruption, abortion, addiction, and women wanting more. Beautifully written, with a loveable cast of characters, this novel is a tender account of love that cannot be acknowledged, of loss and regret, risk and defiance, abiding friendship, and the powerful bonds of chosen family.
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review
Singout
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Pickpick

Absolutely compelling read for my IRL: the story of four very different but strong sisters and their mother living in Roaring Twenties Vancouver. The narrator is sometimes the sister who has had an abortion, sometimes a third person, and occasionally the family dog, which works surprisingly well. It tackles complex themes that include marriage and betrayal, queerness in an age when it was illegal, abortion, immigration, smuggling, and more./1

Singout Patriarchy dominates here: unhappy marriages, that can‘t be easily dissolved, queer love that has to be lived out in secret, equally secret painful and shameful abortions, and buildup of women‘s demand for the vote. World War I and the Spanish flu also lurk in the background, both with the memories of those that didn‘t return, and the trauma of those who did. However, the love encaptured here, as well as the gifted writing, makes this a must. /2 (edited) 7d
TheKidUpstairs Yes! I loved this book, and these sisters. It would be a great one to read with a book group, so much to talk about. Unfortunately, its 1920s themes are so relevant today. 6d
13 likes3 comments
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Singout
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I wondered if we could have come up with the name of one woman who in the past decade had not lost someone. A husband, a brother, a son.
We who survived the war and the pandemic, we recovered-emotionally, mentally-despite our dreadful losses, didn't we? We went on. Why not Ahmie?
I thought of Dr. Blakeway, who first prescribed laudanum to Ahmie. To calm her nerves, the old man said.
Was he dead? I hoped he was.
Otherwise I wanted a word with him.

14 likes1 stack add
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Singout
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Flore, still seated, stretches her
hand out to Harriet. There's an endless second during which Harriet is certain she should never have come, but then Flore's mouth opens.
"You sexy thing," Flore whispers.
Now she has her arms around Harriet and
says, "Now take me dancing,
Harry."
And here, in these clothes, with Flore, Harriet is finally home. Relief, a spring river, floods every one of her bones. Every single one of them.

kspenmoll This sounds intriguing. Stacked! 2w
16 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Singout
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#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain
My read for my IRL book club: I‘m about 15 percent in and finding it excellent. A novel about four sisters in the Roaring Twenties in Vancouver, who are dealing with marriage tensions, sexual orientation, abortion, parenting… Sound familiar?

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TheKidUpstairs
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#12Booksof2024 November

It was a month dominated by stories of the complicated, beautiful relationships of sisters. In the end, the McKenzie sisters eked out the top spot over the Blues. Their hopes and dreams of finding a way to be themselves amid the societal pressures of 1920s Vancouver were engaging, beautiful, often enraging, and all too relevant to today's world.

@Andrew65

Andrew65 Good choice. 2w
60 likes1 comment
review
TheKidUpstairs
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Pickpick

From the moment I started this one, I wanted to do very little other than read it.

In 1920s Vancouver, Isla McKenzie seeks out an illegal abortion. Her sisters find her near death in a hospital ward. The consequences ripple through the lives of all four McKenzie sisters and those around them, as they each try to find a life that is true to their own selves in a society that places little value on a woman's ideas, love, and choices. Cont'd 👇

TheKidUpstairs Higdon gives a beautiful, honest depiction of sisterhood. They definitely don't always agree with each other, they don't even always like each other, but they love each other with a gorgeous, genuine fierceness. Cont'd 👇 2mo
TheKidUpstairs Higdon's talent shines in style choices which could, in the hands of another author, detract from the story: chapters switch between a third person narrative voice and first person POV from some of the characters, even the dog. It shouldn't work, but Higdon's clarity keeps the perspective from getting muddled, and the dog is just a freakin' delight. Cont'd 👇 2mo
TheKidUpstairs Despite being set in the 1920s, themes are incredibly, and infuriatingly, timely 100 years later. Highly recommend this one! 2mo
58 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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TheKidUpstairs
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"You know what I like to imagine? I like to imagine the streets lined with all earth's fallen women. Everyone else having to pick their way through the streets, stepping over them. That would be some kind of justice, wouldn't it? All those women blocking the path of the sanctimonious bastards who knocked them down. And there would be a lot of us."

Another #CanLit read for #FoodandLit ??

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LiteraryHoarderPenny
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Pickpick

Excellent once again from Christine Higdon! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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LiteraryHoarderPenny
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This has been a wonderful book to close out my 2023 reading.

TheKidUpstairs Thank you for reminding how badly I wanted to read this one! 13mo
LiteraryHoarderPenny @TheKidUpstairs 👍👍😁 of course! 😁😁 13mo
13 likes2 comments
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LiteraryHoarderPenny
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These are all the Canadian books I bought (or were sent to me) in 2023 that I haven‘t read yet. I plan on reading more from my shelves this year (I‘ll try!!) and I‘m looking forward to reading these in particular. Cut off from the picture is Tomson Highway‘s Kiss of the Fur Queen. #CanLit @Lindy

Lindy The only one in that stack that I have read is the Broken Heart of Winter. I liked it! And I‘ve been thinking of it since moving to Victoria because the MC lives here & works in a bakery. There are so many great bakeries in this city! 13mo
LiteraryHoarderPenny @Lindy love it!! Glad to see your settling in so nicely. I really love Victoria! 13mo
Lindy @LiteraryHoarderPenny It really is beautiful here ☺️ 13mo
12 likes4 comments