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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
The ending lowered this book from a four to a three, I am not a fan of HEA BUT I do need the more to have a conclusion. I felt like the author was done writing and just quit.
Otherwise this gives a fictional recount of history that really happened in the 1850's. Slave owners took their slaves to a resort in Ohio and vacation like they were a couple. We see how four woman are treated by their owners, how each see themselves as slaves vrs wanting freedom and how society views them. This was well written, explored a lot of the turmoil of those times and was a great read except for the horrible ending
Otherwise this gives a fictional recount of history that really happened in the 1850's. Slave owners took their slaves to a resort in Ohio and vacation like they were a couple. We see how four woman are treated by their owners, how each see themselves as slaves vrs wanting freedom and how society views them. This was well written, explored a lot of the turmoil of those times and was a great read except for the horrible ending
The cover said it was great for people who loved The Help. To assume that that there is any relationship between these two novels is in my opinion, racist. It implies that that any two books about African Americans in servitude are somehow equivalent. These novels were separated by 100 years and some quality, no offense to Ms Perkins-Valdez. My mini rant is directed to the publishers or whomever is responsible for the banner across the front of my book. That being said, this was a decent novel. If you find yourself dragging in the first summer, hold on until you go back in time to the start of Lizzie's story. From there on out, the novel is very good. Maybe a different path could have been taken with the first part....but I did like it overall.
Beautifully written. I loved that the protagonist was so naive and conflicted. The other characters were pretty fascinating.
I love Dolen Perkins-Valdez. She really digs into the psyche of her characters in a way that makes me feel like I have known them my whole life. Wench is a beautiful, yet heartbreaking story about discovering self-worth and defining freedom in the context of enslavement.
Ugh. This was a hard book. Hard to read and hard to like. I HATED the ending. I wanted to read a book about an escape of the horrors of slavery, but instead I read a book that displayed the gruesome days of a slave with little redeeming value. I can handle books on slavery if there is some redemption somewhere, anywhere. Unfortunately, I just read (and reread) the atrocities of this time period. I'm not saying there wasn't truth in her writing, I'm certain these things happened. But I felt with every chapter another blow of depression when NOTHING good came from the story. I didn't like that the summary talked of an escape that never happened. In short, hard books are ok and I'm willing to read them IF there is a redemption somewhere.
I will not recommend this book to anyone.
I will not recommend this book to anyone.
I made a decision awhile ago that I was done with books about slavery, but this one was so fresh, that I had to make an exception. This book takes places in the early 1860's over the course of a couple summers as Southern slave owners take their vacations at a Ohio resort. They don't bring their wives, they usually bring a female slave and set up house for the summer in one of the cabins on the resort. The relationships between the slaves is the main focus as the women form friendships over their similar circumstances. Also interesting, as Ohio is a free state at the time, is the question of freedom - does being around free Blacks put ideas in their heads? Does the bond that some of the women have with their owners/bed mates make the notion of running not an option? Wonderful, thoughtful debut novel that lifted my moratorium on reading novels set during that time.
I loved this book when I first read it several years ago and since then I have become a mother again, and again and also have developed deeper understanding of the people I love and energy around me. I appreciate this book because it is about women flourishing in their own way in the human experience... humans who happen to be slaves
Beautiful! Too many of us see slavery as "big picture" issue that is part of America's past. This story does an amazing job of showing the insidious nature of slavery and it's impact on individual women and their children. Must read.
dark
emotional
medium-paced