I remember what it felt like to be a teenager in the late 1990s. That new taste of freedom when my first friend got her driver’s license. Summer days spent on the hot sand of the beach after grabbing some Taco Bell for lunch. Rainy days spent inside watching Cruel Intentions and sneaking beer out of whoever’s parent’s fridge. Nights spent out listening to the cute boys’ bands play, hoping we were cool enough to draw a smile, the slightest flicker of attention. Then returning home, sliding my Fiona Apple CD in, and listening to the screeching tones of dial-up internet while I waited impatiently to see who was on AOL Instant Messenger.
That’s what reading Justine feels like. It doesn’t just share these types of experiences; it feels like they felt. Like dredging up memories I haven’t thought about in years. Remembering a time that was equally full of the reckless abandon of youth and the pressure to fit in. It’s funny … the whole ‘90s style, the aesthetic, has circled back around now. Guess it’s the perfect time for a book like this.
Forsyth Harmon stuns with her debut, Justine, an illustrated novel which, while brief, is not short on impact. It’s the summer of 1999 and young Ali lives in Long Island with her grandmother. During a visit to her local grocery store, Ali meets Justine. Justine is tall and waif-like, a dark-haired, pale-skinned enigma. Ali immediately applies for a job at the store, wanting nothing more than to work alongside Justine, to become her friend. As the summer days pass by, Justine invites Ali into her world … a world of drinking and parties, skater boys, breaking the rules and feeling alive. This new world isn’t always fun and games, though. Ali idolises Justine’s thin frame and begins to imitate her habits of daily weigh-ins, counting calories, and purging. She even finds herself following the lead of her new friends and breaking the law. But as much as Ali wants to be like Justine, she isn’t. And if she doesn’t fit in, will she be cast out?
Harmon is stunningly perceptive in her ability to convey the experiences of adolescence: The uncertainty of who you are which gets tangled up and lost in assimilating to who you are with. The normal teenage angst which often masks the underlying issues young women face with their bodies and their minds. The particular way friendships at this age are a complicated blend of admiration, envy, love, and hate. The mistakes made and the lessons learned, some not until it’s too late.
The prose is amplified by Harmon’s intricate line drawings which serve to flesh out the story without having to say a single word. Simple, yet bold, these stark black and white illustrations help fill the gaps in the reader’s imagination while also spurring further reflection upon the narrative. One without the other would feel incomplete; however with the images and text situated side by side, the book feels whole.
This is a read which will obviously appeal to anyone with fond memories of their own adolescence in the late ‘90s, but the appeal does not stop there. Harmon’s ability to render relatable characters, engaging experiences and moods makes this a worthy debut to pick up for anyone seeking a novel reading experience.
Justine is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of March 2nd 2021. Many thanks to TinHouse for providing me with an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Will you be picking up Justine? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Artist behind THE ART OF THE AFFAIR Forsyth Harmon’s JUSTINE, an intimate portrayal of American girlhood at the edge of adulthood in the late 1990s—centered on a Long Island teenager’s fixation on her seductive and troubled Stop & Shop coworker, as she learns who she can become outside of her lonely home, to Masie Cochran at Tin House Books, for publication in Winter 2021.
