I did expect that the Miss Sweetie plotline would be more of a hunt and have the stakes be higher, but it didn't really feel like that. Her acting as Miss Sweetie and taking those opportunities to use her platform to point out the wrong in society told me so much about her as a character and made me respect her that much more. There were discussions of feminism and intersectionality in addition to the racism Jo faces as a Chinese American woman living in the south. I wasn't expecting the twists and turns the story took so that was a nice surprise. I loved the concept for this and thought the execution was so well done.

This is my second Stacey Lee novel and honestly, I can't wait to read more! She writes characters you feel for and root for, especially as the world and society is against them. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light.

While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, 'Dear Miss Sweetie.' When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781524740955.įrom the founding member of We Need Diverse Books comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family.īy day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee