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heatherclark 's review for:
The Indigo Girl
by Natasha Boyd
I am truly conflicted about my review for The Indigo Girl. It was a beautiful story based on an incredible woman in history. However, there were glaring problematic issues with the story as well.
Let's start with what I loved about the book. Boyd is an excellent storyteller. Her words flowed effortlessly and kept me intrigued and wanting more from the beginning until the very end. I try not to find out too much about a book before I read it. I go on recommendations of trusted sources. So, I had no idea until the very end that Eliza Lucas was a real person. I loved learning about her and it's clear Boyd thoroughly researched for the story.
Trigger Warning: slavery, racism, brutality, sexual assault
However, there were some issues that I had a very hard time overlooking. While the story of enslaved people is presented as something bad, I felt like it was also a white washed romanticized version of a horrific time in our nation's history.
There were several instances when enslaved people were shown to love their masters. Quash, who is owned by Lucas' family, is the son of an enslaved woman and her previous owner's son. Quash tells Eliza that his mother and father loved each other. I have serious reservations about portraying love this way. The power dynamic between a slave owner/their children and the people they enslave leaves little to no choice for the enslaved person. To present a relationship between the two as equal is incorrect and does a huge disservice to the women that were assaulted by their owners.
When Eliza's indigo harvest is successful, she says that not only is it a win for her, but also for the enslaved people who worked the fields and processed the indigo. They were said to all be proud and joyous. Is that possible? Can you feel those things when your work is forced upon you?
There is also so much racism in Eliza that is seemingly overlooked because she has brief moments of doing something good for a few of the people she enslaved. Yes, she teaches some to read, yes, she stops a man from hitting a woman. But she doesn't free the people she owns. She doesn't even think to free her "best friend," Ben, until it is too late. She doesn't free Quash or any of the other people she "loves." In fact she's resolved to sell them to another master when it looks like she'll be going back to Antigua with only the hope that the new master will treat them well.
So, my thoughts on this book are muddy. I really loved the writing and getting to know Eliza, but I can't get past my concerns with how the stories of the enslaved peoples are told.
Let's start with what I loved about the book. Boyd is an excellent storyteller. Her words flowed effortlessly and kept me intrigued and wanting more from the beginning until the very end. I try not to find out too much about a book before I read it. I go on recommendations of trusted sources. So, I had no idea until the very end that Eliza Lucas was a real person. I loved learning about her and it's clear Boyd thoroughly researched for the story.
Trigger Warning: slavery, racism, brutality, sexual assault
However, there were some issues that I had a very hard time overlooking. While the story of enslaved people is presented as something bad, I felt like it was also a white washed romanticized version of a horrific time in our nation's history.
There were several instances when enslaved people were shown to love their masters. Quash, who is owned by Lucas' family, is the son of an enslaved woman and her previous owner's son. Quash tells Eliza that his mother and father loved each other. I have serious reservations about portraying love this way. The power dynamic between a slave owner/their children and the people they enslave leaves little to no choice for the enslaved person. To present a relationship between the two as equal is incorrect and does a huge disservice to the women that were assaulted by their owners.
When Eliza's indigo harvest is successful, she says that not only is it a win for her, but also for the enslaved people who worked the fields and processed the indigo. They were said to all be proud and joyous. Is that possible? Can you feel those things when your work is forced upon you?
There is also so much racism in Eliza that is seemingly overlooked because she has brief moments of doing something good for a few of the people she enslaved. Yes, she teaches some to read, yes, she stops a man from hitting a woman. But she doesn't free the people she owns. She doesn't even think to free her "best friend," Ben, until it is too late. She doesn't free Quash or any of the other people she "loves." In fact she's resolved to sell them to another master when it looks like she'll be going back to Antigua with only the hope that the new master will treat them well.
So, my thoughts on this book are muddy. I really loved the writing and getting to know Eliza, but I can't get past my concerns with how the stories of the enslaved peoples are told.