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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This one was a mix for me. I found the story of this tough as nails and a very young woman intriguing. When she is left to manage her father's land holdings, she does so in an expert manner. She must have been an extremely smart person.
What I didn't work for me was the author's choice to make her off as a good and benevolent slave owner. There's no such thing. Yes, I understand slave ownership to be complicated like everything else in life. Historically, Eliza is often described as being a bit rebellious by teaching slaves to read. However, at the end of her life, it is believed that she had several hundred slave workers handling her indigo. Hundreds more than the 20 slaves on the plantation after her father left. She didn't aquire slaves and free them. She kept them as forced free labor. So don't tell of some bullshit made up story of her loving her slaves and rather tell the truth that to her they were economic fodder. Don't tell some romantic bullshit that her putting a dry roof over their heads was to make those slaves happy, but rather tell the truth that it was economically savvy for her to keep them dry and healthy to do the back-breaking work necessary to grow, harvest, and process indigo making her a very rich woman!
What I didn't work for me was the author's choice to make her off as a good and benevolent slave owner. There's no such thing. Yes, I understand slave ownership to be complicated like everything else in life. Historically, Eliza is often described as being a bit rebellious by teaching slaves to read. However, at the end of her life, it is believed that she had several hundred slave workers handling her indigo. Hundreds more than the 20 slaves on the plantation after her father left. She didn't aquire slaves and free them. She kept them as forced free labor. So don't tell of some bullshit made up story of her loving her slaves and rather tell the truth that to her they were economic fodder. Don't tell some romantic bullshit that her putting a dry roof over their heads was to make those slaves happy, but rather tell the truth that it was economically savvy for her to keep them dry and healthy to do the back-breaking work necessary to grow, harvest, and process indigo making her a very rich woman!
3.5 stars. It was a slow start, but the last 1/3 of the book picked up speed.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved this historical fiction novel! It was hard to get into at first because of the older style language, but once I got in a flow I was hooked. The novel follows the real life story of Eliza Lucas who as a young girl in South Carolina took over running her father’s plantations when he was away on military duty. She realizes that her family needs to find a new source of revenue if they are to keep their properties and emerge from debt, so she sets out to produce indigo. Her relationships with her slaves, her ambition and brains, and her rejection of a traditional path of marriage all make for an interesting and exhilarating story. Highly recommend this if you are interested in business in the pre-Revolution colonies, the role of women in early American society, and the complicated relationship between slaves and owners.
adventurous
inspiring
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was uncomfortable to read knowing it was by a white author reflecting on the 1700s during a time where the main protagonist benefited off slave labor. The author did a lot to try to convince the reader that Eliza was a slave sympathizer who didn’t believe in the institution, but ultimately she built her legacy off slaves and taking their knowledge to create indigo. Good writing but overall not my favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Slavery
Although a little too much romantic innuendo, this was pretty good historical fiction.
I had never heard about the background of indigo in the colonies, and this book had so many insights and researched facts. I even read it while in South Carolina, where Eliza lived and began to harvest indigo. So it was a perfect setting as I was practically there! XD
A great read for any historical lover
A great read for any historical lover