THE GROVE

It’s the early 1960s in rural Belleville. Fifteen-year-old Penelope “Pip” Bean, and her 17-year-old sister, Cecelia, who goes by Sissy, spend their weekdays in a one-room high school and their weekends at Juicy Acres, their family business, selling orange juice by the side of the road. They try to avoid their parents, who drink too much and get into vicious arguments. When Raffy, a sword-swallowing Lothario, arrives with the annual Christmastime carnival, Sissy is smitten—and hopeful that she’s found a way out of town. Pip sees them having sex, and Sissy declares she’s in love. But after she runs away to join him, Sissy discovers Raffy has left without her. Despairing, she withdraws into anger that shatters their sisterly bond, leaving Pip adrift. The orange-grove setting and the desolate life of isolated, impoverished Florida farmers are well-delineated. Most characters, particularly Pip’s parents, are drawn with nuance, although longtime orange grove fruit picker Silas, who’s illiterate and from an even more deprived background, veers close to caricature. Some plot points strain credulity, particularly as the story advances, and the abruptly hopeful ending, while something of a relief, doesn’t feel entirely realistic. Main characters present white.

Jun 17, 2025 - 05:52

It’s the early 1960s in rural Belleville. Fifteen-year-old Penelope “Pip” Bean, and her 17-year-old sister, Cecelia, who goes by Sissy, spend their weekdays in a one-room high school and their weekends at Juicy Acres, their family business, selling orange juice by the side of the road. They try to avoid their parents, who drink too much and get into vicious arguments. When Raffy, a sword-swallowing Lothario, arrives with the annual Christmastime carnival, Sissy is smitten—and hopeful that she’s found a way out of town. Pip sees them having sex, and Sissy declares she’s in love. But after she runs away to join him, Sissy discovers Raffy has left without her. Despairing, she withdraws into anger that shatters their sisterly bond, leaving Pip adrift. The orange-grove setting and the desolate life of isolated, impoverished Florida farmers are well-delineated. Most characters, particularly Pip’s parents, are drawn with nuance, although longtime orange grove fruit picker Silas, who’s illiterate and from an even more deprived background, veers close to caricature. Some plot points strain credulity, particularly as the story advances, and the abruptly hopeful ending, while something of a relief, doesn’t feel entirely realistic. Main characters present white.