Comments (67)

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1 to 25 of 67 items
Jun 26, 2023wmtlady rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Outstanding. I'm surprised that this story hasn't yet been brought "to the big screen." I love how Grissom weaves together the life stories of this large family of multiracial slaves in ol' antebellum South.
Mar 26, 2023kathylock rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Very good book.
Feb 09, 2023jasnadzinic rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Wow! This book deserves all the stars. Absolutely loved this novel!
Jan 08, 2023mliz84321 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I couldn’t put this book down and finished it in 2 days!! Absolutely captivating with strong characters and heartbreaking storyline throughout. Having two narrators with two perspectives theoughout. A fantastic historical fiction novel.…
Aug 10, 2022altermyworld rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I just finished this book. I too am bothered that a white woman wrote this. However, she did alot of research and as Alice Walker stated " I reccomend The Kitchen House . The novel, like The Help, does important work." This book is hard…
Mar 31, 2022BRG_4 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I thought this was well written and managed to show the truth about our human existence. We are not all bad or all good and all of us can hurt or hurt others depending on our circumstances and our traumas. This came across as a very real…
Mar 10, 2022
From Mandy at boc, strong recommendation
Feb 08, 2022lilypad_1 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Ugh, misery on top of misery, couldn't get through it, didn't want to.
Feb 07, 2022esrobbins rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
The story pulls you along but I felt the characters were one dimensional and stereotypical. They were either all good or all bad. The plot moved rapidly because nothing ever went well. I felt guilty reading a book about slavery written by…
Jan 31, 2022springmyer rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Loved this book!
Dec 04, 2021gloria1330 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Wow! What a good book this was! It was much better than I expected, but the author brought me right into the scene & I couldn't put it down. I don't usually like books about the southern US & the terrible slavery, but this book was…
May 12, 2021peacebenow rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Lavinia, an indentured servant and Belle the master's mulatto daughter together tell this story through alternating chapters giving the reader a fuller picture of events. Takes place in antebellum Virginia in the 17/1800s on the Pyke…
Apr 19, 2021claragaston rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
LARGE PRINT UNDER SWAN
Apr 04, 2021jclarkie rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I absolutely loved this book! First book in a while that I could not put down.
Sep 26, 2020t_lynschm77 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A must read! I had a major book hangover when it ended. I wasn't ready to let the characters go.
Sep 06, 2019Tigard_DeidraM rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Great book!!! I loved this one.
Aug 26, 2019
Tea & Talk Book Club / January 2017
Jul 26, 2019EljayJohnson rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This started slow for me and suffered a little because I had read something similar in theme and feel last summer (Wench), but then it grabbed me and didn't let go. Very fast-paced and readable for a serious-themed novel and I enjoyed it…
Mar 14, 2019
Great author
Aug 18, 2018Bevherb rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Understanding the history and period of the time, I’d consider it a realistic account of what it meant to be a slave. It embarrassed me as a white person of the horrendous and appalling conditions a black person had to endure. It is still…
Jul 09, 2018
This story relates the joy, sorrow, character, and unalterable roles given to those living on a Southern plantation in the late 1700's. Told particularly from the perspective of Lavinia, a young white girl indentured to the Captain and…
Mar 30, 2018MillieBT rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Absolutely mesmerizing read....Lavinia a young and white 7 year old orphaned...ship"s captain James Pyke takes her to his plantation to work as an indentured servant in a kitchen house of a tobacco plantation...all hell breaks loose…
May 03, 2017sabaearth rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Beautifully narrated and touching story which has a true base in the history of slavery. Even though it's drama, you get to make deep connection with these families of slaves who have meaningful and deep relationship among them and the…
Oct 18, 2016DorisWaggoner rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Having the story told by two voices makes this novel much stronger. Lavinia is 7 when she comes to the plantation as a white indentured servant with, at first, no memory of her parents' death on the trip from Ireland. Belle is a young…
Sep 11, 2016ChesterChester rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I've read many similar tales, but without the indentured servant twist. Never the less, I liked it very much. It did not gloss over major problems, but rather treated them gently enough so that I was able to continue reading. Too often…