*This review is spoiler-free (as all 2%’s are)!
Since June, I have been caught up in the world of Miss Emma M. Lion, having been recommended the series by one of our very own 2% readers. For so long I’ve wanted to write about Emma (she’s all I can talk about), but was waiting to finish the series before doing so. Having read the first six books in two months, I forced myself to slow down and savor the last two, eking out as much time with Emma as I could.
Now who is this Emma? That’s a great question, I’d love to tell you. We meet Emma in 1883 at the age of 20, moving back into St. Crispian’s, her neighborhood of London, where she will now be a full-time resident. As Emma is soon to take full possession of her family’s home when she turns 21, she is determined to establish a life for herself in the neighborhood, complete with the new friendships, irksome relatives, and finicky finance troubles that entails. Through the volumes, you follow spirited and quick-witted Emma as she navigates London society (or as little of it as possible), wrestles with loss and grief, and strives to be as educated and independent as she can get away with. Through her journals, which document her neighbors and the denizens of St. Crispian’s as much as her own reflections, one starts to feel like a resident there themselves.
What is it that makes this series feel so special? Is it the strength of the characters, Emma’s wit, the practical yet poignant reflections on life, the quality of Brower’s writing? Each of these certainly plays a part, but what I treasure so much about Emma’s series is that it’s a publishing anomaly. It’s succeeded in spite of itself. The first book is only 100 pages, though the rest increase from 200 to 300; it feels almost impossible to capture the series in an elevator pitch; it’s one of the slowest plot developments I’ve ever read and yet I couldn’t put it down. Brower has been publishing Emma’s stories since 2019, but it’s only recently begun to gain widespread traction (though I know Emma has had readers since the beginning). I think its current success is meritocracy at work – a book that has been flung into the publishing forefront because of reader appreciation and engagement rather than big publicity budgets.
I am anxiously awaiting the publication of Volume 9 in February 2027, so if you’ve not met Emma yet, you have (in my experience) more than enough time to catch up.
2% Rating: 10 (I haven’t loved a series like this in a long time)
Recommend? Absolutely
Re-Read? Probably multiple times
Time: 2:23
(I think, for Emma, it was worth going over)