The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion (Volume 1-8) - Beth Brower - A Short Summary and Review
The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion (Volume 1-8) - Beth Brower - A Short Summary and Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
A Short Summary:
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion follows the spirited and unconventional Emma as she navigates life in London through her private journals. Told in episodic entries, the series captures her daily observations, social entanglements, and personal reflections with a voice that is both sharp and endearing.
Across eight volumes, Emma’s world unfolds through wit, curiosity, and a refusal to conform neatly to expectation. Her journals become less a record of events and more a portrait of a mind, clever, observant, and unapologetically itself.
My Favorite Quote from the Book:
Questions to Ponder While Reading:
My Review:
There is something refreshingly alive about The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion. Beth Brower has created a character who feels both grounded in her setting and entirely untamed by it. Emma is not polished, not particularly concerned with propriety, and all the more compelling for it. Her voice carries the series, sharp, irreverent, and often laugh-out-loud funny in a way that sneaks up on you.
What makes this series stand out is not a sweeping plot or dramatic stakes, but its tone and perspective. Emma’s journals read like a conversation you didn’t realize you needed, observations layered with humor, frustration, and occasional brilliance. It’s the kind of writing that makes you wish the character were real, if only so you could sit across from her and listen.
And that’s really the heart of it: you don’t just read Emma M. Lion; you want to be her. There’s a freedom in her voice, a refusal to take the world too seriously while still engaging with it fully. It’s rare to find a series that feels this light without being shallow, this clever without being exhausting.
Also, and this may be the greatest tragedy of the entire series, Latin Phrases for the Unrepentant is not a real book. It absolutely should be.
If you liked The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion, you may also like:
The Importance of Being Ernest - Oscar Wilde
Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
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If you enjoy these literary wanderings, know that your support keeps the pages turning.
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