A review by ablotial
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
4.0
I wasn't expecting to like this book. It was one of two books up for this month to read for a group I recently joined, and neither one of them sounded that interesting. But I chose this one because I preferred the cover. Yeah, yeah... From the description, I thought it would be preachy and moralistic and ... you know, one of those books with an agenda where the actual story is secondary.
But that is totally not the case. This book is very well written and makes excellent use of the dual narrator technique, switching back and forth between Lavinia, who is young, innocent and naive, and Belle, who is older and hasn't been spared the tragedies of the world. To Belle, it is obvious that the biggest difference between the two of them is that Belle is half black and a slave, whereas Lavinia is white and an indentured servant who ended up that way as an orphan. Lavinia doesn't realize that different colors mean anything (having grown up to the ripe old age of 7 in Ireland, she was presumably spared the brainwashing), and she views Belle (and the other slaves) as her family.
Lavinia is often spared the truth to save her innocence. When she asks questions about things happening around her, people often reply that she will find out soon enough, and don't explain. But she never does figure it out on her own, and the lack of knowledge leads her to make some decisions that change everyone's lives forever.
To be honest, most of the things in this book are caused because people refuse to be honest with each other, or don't push the issue and tell things that need to be told. There are other cases of this as well, but these are the big plot-important ones.
In the end, I found all the characters to be likable at some point during the book (well, except Rankin and the tutor...) and even felt a little bad for Marshall, although I have to admit I am REALLY unclear about his motives for his choice of wife. He had SEEN how she interacted with everyone in the past - did he really expect this to change?
Some parts of the book were really, really awful, and brought up strong emotions with me. Lots of violence, often of a sexual nature (but not always). There was an awful lot of death. I'm impressed with the author's research, especially dealing with current events in the time period, and I enjoyed reading the different dialects. Definitely recommend reading this one at least once.
But that is totally not the case. This book is very well written and makes excellent use of the dual narrator technique, switching back and forth between Lavinia, who is young, innocent and naive, and Belle, who is older and hasn't been spared the tragedies of the world. To Belle, it is obvious that the biggest difference between the two of them is that Belle is half black and a slave, whereas Lavinia is white and an indentured servant who ended up that way as an orphan. Lavinia doesn't realize that different colors mean anything (having grown up to the ripe old age of 7 in Ireland, she was presumably spared the brainwashing), and she views Belle (and the other slaves) as her family.
Lavinia is often spared the truth to save her innocence. When she asks questions about things happening around her, people often reply that she will find out soon enough, and don't explain. But she never does figure it out on her own, and the lack of knowledge leads her to make some decisions that change everyone's lives forever.
To be honest, most of the things in this book are caused because people refuse to be honest with each other, or don't push the issue and tell things that need to be told.
Spoiler
Belle's true relationship with the captain, for instance, is hidden from his family and no one makes any effort to correct that even after he dies. Likewise, what is going on with the tutor and Marshall -- no one tries nearly hard enough to make it clear to Marshall's parents what is happening. The father of Belle's child - again, had Lavinia been told instead of had the truth hidden from her, many problems later in life could have been avoided. Lavinia probably could have visited the hospital much sooner if she'd made it clear the effect she has on Miss Martha.In the end, I found all the characters to be likable at some point during the book (well, except Rankin and the tutor...) and even felt a little bad for Marshall, although I have to admit I am REALLY unclear about his motives for his choice of wife. He had SEEN how she interacted with everyone in the past - did he really expect this to change?
Some parts of the book were really, really awful, and brought up strong emotions with me. Lots of violence, often of a sexual nature (but not always). There was an awful lot of death. I'm impressed with the author's research, especially dealing with current events in the time period, and I enjoyed reading the different dialects. Definitely recommend reading this one at least once.