The Making of June

by Annie Ward, Aasne Vigesaa

Leaving her idyllic home in California to follow her husband to Bulgaria, production assistant June finds herself abandoned in a country on the verge of civil war, where she becomes involved with a kingpin, gets caught up in the revolution, and rethinks her idealized picture of the American dream. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Bulgaria

Audio Cassette

First published May 13, 2002

About the author

ANNIE WARD


Annie’s sophomore novel and first psychological thriller BEAUTIFUL BAD will be published by Harper Collins/Park Row books in March, 2019.

Annie received a BA in English Lit with an emphasis in Creative Writing from UCLA and an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute. While studying at AFI, she sold her first short screenplay to MTV/ BFCS Productions. Starring Adam Scott, STRANGE HABIT became a Grand Jury Award Winner at the Aspen Film Festival and a Sundance Festival Official Selection.

After film school, Annie moved to Eastern Europe to work for Fodor Travel Guides, covering regions of Spain and Bulgaria. She remained in Bulgaria for five years spanning a civilian uprising and government overthrow. The novel THE MAKING OF JUNE, which Annie wrote with the Bulgarian revolution and Balkan crisis as its backdrop was sold to Penguin Putnam and published to critical acclaim in 2002.

During Annie’s five years in the Balkans she received a Fulbright Scholarship, taught at the University of Sofia, and script doctored eight screenplays for Nu-Image, an Israeli/American film company that produced a number of projects in Bulgaria for the SyFy Channel. She was later the recipient of an Escape to Create artist residency.

She lives in Kansas City, Kansas with her family.

Reviews

[Meghana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starting off 2021 with a high note! This takes a while to get into, and I briefly thought about abandoning it, but I ended up really liking it. Note: despite what the title implies, the book doesn't really center around June, but around a cast of multiple characters.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea why this books has such a low rating. Although some of the comments do sound a little moralistic and all against June. June and Ethan move to Bulgaia so he can work on his doctorate. This is a move from LA to Bulgaria so it's a huge culture shock for June. Ethan throughout their marriage has been traveling the world leaving her behind but this time she goes. During one of his forays, she has a one night stand with a friend when Ethan doesn't call her and is there with a woman he seems to her to be interested in. When she tells Ethan a month after they were in Bulgaria, he's livid. Of course, forgetting the assistant he was with, saying to himself he doesn't want to think about it. June seeks comfort in all the wrong places and with the wrong people. Ethan moves straight on to a young maid he's been incredibly interested in before they split.

The thing that gets me is that the reviewers of the book are mad at June but not at Ethan. I don't get it. They're both at fault.

P.S. The narrator did a fantastic job.

[Chris Birdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was probably me, but this was a tough story to really get into. Once that was accomplished, it was good. A young American woman moves to war torn Bulgaria with her husband who quickly takes up with a younger local woman. June is devastated, drinks too much and takes up with the local crime boss. The real adventure begins and through it all June discovers who she really is.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

she cheats on him with a friend, he cheats on her with a maid, she cheats on him with a mafia gang leader.....

wasn't as good as i thought it'd be

[Barb Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ambitious attempt to both characterize a young woman trying to find herself and explain the life and politics in post-Communist Bulgaria. Nicely written.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rally wanted to like this book but it was just too far fetched and ridiculous for me. The actual story seemed to be more about Ethan and Nevana than June. June made so many stupid choices that I just really didn’t like her. The environment in the story was chilling. We Americans have it so good and sometimes forget that there are people in other countries who are struggling to have their basic human needs met.

[Laura]

Tried it couldnt get into it.

[Patty C · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about the devastation of Bulgarian culture during that period. The character development was mediocre. I didn’t find June to be a compelling central character.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense

[Caroline]

this is the last book I read in the year 2007