Review for The Unlocked Path by Janis Robinson Daly

For a book by a debut author, I was ultimately impressed by the end of The Unlocked Path. Don’t get me wrong, the beginning worried me. In the end, I am more than happy to have made this novel my selection for one of the prompts in the 2023 Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge.

I don’t really remember when or where I first started my fascination with the history of various people’s fighting for their own voices to be heard or their struggles to obtain the same rights that other groups have always been bestowed with. I do remember having to do a year-long research project in grade school and selecting the women’s suffrage movement as my topic where other students were choosing celebrities for the most part. Thus, I was relatively familiar with a lot of the history and connections sprinkled into the story throughout this novel. This might be her first book, but I honestly say that I would label the author an expert at weaving her fictional characters into a real life narrative.

The Unlocked Path exists somewhere on the line between fiction and nonfiction. It reminds me of the moves that are ‘based on true events’ where the script writers created an amalgamation of various real people into one protagonist that the movie can root for. (Looking at you, Mark Wahlberg in Patriot’s Day.) Family, the sisterhood of women, and all the many roles a female can hold (most of the time simultaneously) comprise the main parts of the novel. Even before women had the right to vote, many first had to find their voice or find other ways to prove themselves. Following the life and achievements of the Edwards family, their independent and intellectual sisters and daughters, the reader takes a journey through one of the most revolutionary periods for women in a way that feels immensely personal. Strong, competent, but still feminine characters resonated deep with me in a way I wasn’t quite prepared for going in.

Just like the protagonist with a few flaws, the novel isn’t without its own issues though. As mentioned earlier, the beginning was rather rough. I don’t know if it was a new author trying to find her footing and writing style, or an attempt to make a period piece feel even more like a period piece. Either way, the end result made me unsure whether I’d be able to finish the story after all. The language used felt needlessly ornamental at points in the first few chapters, with that dressing up making some things just not make sense. One particular example that stood out and stayed with me was the main character walking into a room where she ‘espied’ a book that two sentences later, we are told she couldn’t actually see because of her height.

As the pages turned and the character grew, so too did the author’s writing style and word choice. Reading became easier, and I sank into the story by the end. I think I read the last 200 pages faster than I read the first. The scope was the only other thing I’d have to say had some issues. At points, the novel slipped more toward a history lecture than keeping a full narrative structure. However, it did always slip back into place. And I can’t really complain too much when I am given the opportunity to learn something new.

If you are a fan of historical or women’s fiction, I highly recommend giving this title a chance. Imperfect but charming, the characters made me happy that I stuck through to the end.

The Unlocked Path is available to buy on Amazon.