One Tragic June is a heart-rending historical novel loosely inspired by letters and stories from author Jean Pugh Shipman and her family. Set in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the early 1940s during WWII, it follows June, a teenage girl in the Plain Folk religious community, as she falls in love with a non-member and deals with the consequences.

June meets Peter at a local store and slowly falls for him, even though she knows that seeing a man outside of the Plain Folk risks the community shunning her and her family. While she tries dating the son of a prominent Plain Folk member and listens to her parents’ wishes, she keeps returning to Peter, who finds ways to secretly meet her. As the story unfolds, this discreet alliance eventually spirals into tragedy for both parties.

The novel is told mostly from June’s perspective, switching sometimes to Peter’s and June’s parents. June is intelligent and inquisitive about the outside world, struggling to obey her parents and her community while following her heart. Peter is bold and eager but also loving. Her parents are firm but enlightened enough to tell June about sex in age-appropriate language. Indeed, no one seems like a villain here.

The novel mostly moves chronologically, with some switching in time. The introduction portrays Shipman as a girl overhearing her cousin and her own mother talking about a relative. The book is loosely based on that relative.

While the story engages, the dialogue is awkward. The Plain Folk naturally speak formally. But even taking this into account, their words seem wooden: “’What a glorious day for a farm sale,’ Father says. ‘The sky is cloud free, and the sun is shining brightly. It is cold, to be sure, but it will not be freezing.’” Such stiltedness undermines the story’s flow.

Still, the characterizations are nuanced and readers will appreciate the conflict of protagonists torn between religion and their feelings.

Also available as an ebook.