THE EMANCIPATION OF WILLIAM JONES, JR.

In Perkins’ historical novel, a young boy finds love and support for the first time.

The year is 1905, and Anna Jones is a young, single mother who has done “as little as possible” to take care of her 10-year-old son William. Choosing freedom over parental responsibility, Anna takes William to her hometown of Rawlings, Washington, under the pretext of meeting his grandparents, George and Marie Seevers, before abandoning him. George and Marie are devastated to learn of their grandson’s mistreatment, but they cannot properly raise him either, so William is sent to live with his sweet uncle and aunt, Steven and Jane Taylor. Steven and Jane do their best to convince the young boy that the entire family wants and loves him; they offer young William a puppy, the chance for a good education, and more. But Anna soon comes back into the picture, declaring that William is her “property” and that she will not let him go without a fight. As the whole extended family deals with the legal and emotional ramifications of William’s custody situation, the author follows a large cast of characters over five years as William grows up with many questions about his future and his past with his mother, wondering whether or not she will ever change. Perkins’ narrative includes tender and sad moments that will endear William to readers; his succinct summations of his abuse are heart-wrenching, and his love for his puppy, Patch, is a true joy. Curiously, then, the story focuses more on its extended cast of much less engaging adults. Anna is a vexing creation with great potential as a character, but the meandering plot drifts into stiff, tedious legal exchanges, local politics, and a strange thread about a parole hearing that is dismissed just as suddenly as it appears. The result is a choppy reading experience—it’s difficult to keep track of how characters are related and what, if anything, their actions have to do with William. The story’s time period is also underused, with the text making only a few references to antiquated technology like old cameras and buggies, which adds to an overall sense of confusion.

Perplexing subplots and superfluous characters muffle this historical family drama’s poignancy.