Review: The Kitchen House
Posted by Cathie on Wednesday, November 20, 2013. Filed under: fiction, historical fiction, published in 2010, review, reviewed in 2013
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Published by: Touchstone
Our source: Our local library
What it’s about (from Goodreads):
When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.
Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.
Our thoughts:
What a fabulous book! I truly couldn't put it down.
Written in the narrative of both Belle, a black slave, and Lavinia, an indentured white servant, it depicts a life of slavery on a plantation in the Deep South during the early 1800's. This is a wonderful look at the cruelty of slave life but also shows the oppression of women, both black and white.
I loved how the story showed a true sense of "family", and that you didn't need to be born into a family to be considered a part of it. I also found it quite interesting that everyone, no matter if their ailment was physical or emotional, tended to do better if they were holding a baby or caring for a child. Maybe it is the parenting instinct which gives us hope and saves us when terrible things happen.
I believe that everyone should have a Mama Mae and a Papa George in their life. They were the quintessential parents who supplied support to everyone. If there is one thing that I hope to be in this world it would be that I am someone's Mama Mae.
The Kitchen House is Grissom's first novel and I absolutely loved it. She is currently working on writing Crow Mary, another work of historical fiction. That definitely gives me something to look forward to!
Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.
Our thoughts:
What a fabulous book! I truly couldn't put it down.
Written in the narrative of both Belle, a black slave, and Lavinia, an indentured white servant, it depicts a life of slavery on a plantation in the Deep South during the early 1800's. This is a wonderful look at the cruelty of slave life but also shows the oppression of women, both black and white.
I loved how the story showed a true sense of "family", and that you didn't need to be born into a family to be considered a part of it. I also found it quite interesting that everyone, no matter if their ailment was physical or emotional, tended to do better if they were holding a baby or caring for a child. Maybe it is the parenting instinct which gives us hope and saves us when terrible things happen.
I believe that everyone should have a Mama Mae and a Papa George in their life. They were the quintessential parents who supplied support to everyone. If there is one thing that I hope to be in this world it would be that I am someone's Mama Mae.
The Kitchen House is Grissom's first novel and I absolutely loved it. She is currently working on writing Crow Mary, another work of historical fiction. That definitely gives me something to look forward to!
We would recommend this to:
Fans of historical fiction
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