The Making Of June: A Novel

by Annie Ward

When June Carver made the choice to accompany her husband, Ethan, from their sunny beachside home in Los Angeles to the war-torn Balkans in 1996, she did not realize that in Bulgaria her home would be a concrete housing block with no hot water and feral dogs lurking in the shadows. She would never have imagined that her real journey would be from sheltered American wife to reviled Mafia mistress. In the gray and desolate city of Sofia, where Ethan is working on his doctoral thesis, June attempts to save her rocky marriage while struggling to understand her new home: a post-Communist country rife with organized crime and ethnic conflict, in which the poverty and corruption has led the oppressed people precariously close to revolution.

For June, a sunny Californian film production assistant whose free time was once filled with sushi happy hours, yoga and spa retreats with her friends, adapting to this frighteningly different country is the hardest thing she has ever faced. That is, until Ethan leaves her for Nevena, a young, hard-working maid who was orphaned as a child during an attack on her Muslim village in the mountains close to the Turkish border.

June is forced to stand on her own or admit defeat. She decides to stay in Sofia in hopes of reconciling with Ethan. She hires a language tutor, takes a job as a journalist, and is eventually seduced by Chavdar, a Mafia kingpin as charismatic as he is lethal. Ethan’s love for Nevena deepens as he learns more about her tragic past and her loyalty to her little sister Boryana, an exotic dancer at one of the Mafia clubs. Boryana has betrayed her employer, dragging all of them into dangerous dealings with Chavdar and his henchmen.

With Chavdar, June enjoys lavish weekends in Turkey and Greece, expensive gifts and powerful physical chemistry, as well as bouts of terror. She soon comes to identify more with the passionate and proud Bulgarian working class, particularly her outspoken, chain-smoking, elderly tutor Raina. June finally realizes that the explosive revolution on its way is due to desperate poverty and injustice clashing with the outrageous excesses of Chavdar’s dirty wealth. She leaves him, but not without a terrifying battle with the obsessive narcissist who can’t bear to see his empire crumble and his conquests escape.

Ethan’s loyalty to Nevena and her sister is unwavering to the point that he risks his life to save theirs by smuggling the girls out of the country before Chavdar’s thugs can find them. Realizing that Ethan will never be hers again, June gives him her blessing to cement his relationship with Nevena. June not only survives her darkest hour but perseveres. She re-evaluates her role in the world and resolves to make it a more meaningful one. She remains in the Balkans working as a journalist, convinced for the first time that she can make a difference—in her own life and in the lives of others.

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Bulgaria

346 pages, Kindle Edition

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