The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

I listened to this YA book that is on the Reese Witherspoon recommended reading list, and very much enjoyed it. Jo Kuan is a heroine that you can feel good about rooting for. She is a foundling who has many talents but many limitations placed upon her. Almost everything about her happens in hiding, and she is someone who should shine. When the book opens she is less than thrilled to be back working as a lady’s maid after being unceremoniously fired from her job as a milliner’s assistant – but she needs the work, and there aren’t many professional opportunities for a poor girl of Asian descent in 1890s Atlanta. Her adoptive father, Old Gin, isn’t as young as he used to be, and they can’t live on his wages alone. The only bright side is her new anonymous position as a newspaper advice columnist, Miss Sweetie, counseling Atlanta’s young and fashionable on the most important topics of the day. Her progressive takes on everything from segregated streetcars to bicycles and women’s suffrage make the column a huge success, but the more Jo speaks Miss Sweetie’s mind, the more the city clamors for her identity to be revealed. At the same time, she knows Old Gin is hiding something from her, and Jo suspects it might have something to do with her real parents. Finding out the truth could mean sacrificing both her anonymity and her steady income, not to mention her and Old Gin’s safety. The book unwinds at an enjoyable pace to an equally fine ending.