Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine — full book breakdown including genre, page count, audiobook length and narrator, publisher’s synopsis, content notes, author bio, and additional reader notes. Includes direct links to Goodreads, The Storygraph, and featured book lists. Everything you need to know before you read.
Junie
Erin Crosby Eckstine
Overview: Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine is a standout read featured on Slay the Page. Discover the genre, page count, audiobook length and narrator, synopsis, content notes, publisher information, and author details before you dive in. Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine was selected as a Good Morning America (GMA) Book Club pick for February 2025.
Book Details: Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Genre: Historical Fiction / Magical Realism
Page Count: 368 Pages (Hardcover)
Audiobook Length: 13 Hours, 29 Minutes
Narrator: Angel Pean
Publisher: Ballantine Books (Penguin Random House)
Publication Date: February 4, 2025
Featured In: Celebrity Book Club Picks – GMA Book Club (February 2025)
Get More Info: Goodreads | The Storygraph
Publisher’s Description of Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.
When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.
With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine is published by Ballantine Books (Penguin Random House).
Content Notes: Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine includes content that may be sensitive, emotional, or potentially distressing for some readers, including themes of death, racism, slavery, and violence, among others. For more detailed information, reader-submitted content notes are available on The StoryGraph.
Who Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine Is Perfect For
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine is perfect for readers who connect with intimate coming-of-age stories told through sharp prose and emotional restraint. Junie is a quietly powerful novel about grief, girlhood, and the push-pull of love and identity within a fractured family. If you appreciate fiction that lingers in the quiet spaces—reminiscent of Jo Ann Beard or Marilynne Robinson—this debut will likely speak to you.
About the Author: Erin Crosby Eckstine
Erin Crosby Eckstine is the author of Junie, forthcoming from Ballantine Books in January 2025. She writes speculative historical fiction, personal essays, and anything else she’s in the mood for.
Born in Montgomery, AL, Erin grew up between the South and Los Angeles before moving to New York City to attend Barnard College. Eckstine worked in a variety of digital media internships and jobs before pivoting to education and earning a master’s in secondary English education from Stanford University.
Eckstine went on to teach high school English in Brooklyn, NY for six years before becoming a full-time writer. When she’s not writing, she’s usually making pottery, reading, cooking, or playing The Sims. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and cats (Erin Crosby Eckstine, 2025).
Learn more about Erin Crosby Eckstine’s books, biography, and latest releases on her official website.
Book Lists Featuring Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
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