The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Lavinia was a little girl from Ireland when she set off with her parents and brother for America in the late 1700s. On the ship ride over, both parents died and Lavinia was taken as an indentured servant to a large Virginia plantation, where she lived with the house slaves. It was years before she found out what had happened to her brother.
The Kitchen House tells Lavinia's story on the plantation and how the slaves become like a second family to her. Her story is intertwined with that of Belle, a slave and the daughter of the plantation owner, though even the plantation owner's wife doesn't realize that. It's a hard life for women, black or white, with violence, hardship and death in childbirth ever present. And it's interesting to see Lavinia and Belle's different interpretation of the same events.
The author did quite a bit of research on slaves and indentured servants and that comes through in the story.
It's an eye-opening, thought-provoking read that would be a good choice for a book group--and indeed there are discussion questions included in the back of the book.
The Kitchen House tells Lavinia's story on the plantation and how the slaves become like a second family to her. Her story is intertwined with that of Belle, a slave and the daughter of the plantation owner, though even the plantation owner's wife doesn't realize that. It's a hard life for women, black or white, with violence, hardship and death in childbirth ever present. And it's interesting to see Lavinia and Belle's different interpretation of the same events.
The author did quite a bit of research on slaves and indentured servants and that comes through in the story.
It's an eye-opening, thought-provoking read that would be a good choice for a book group--and indeed there are discussion questions included in the back of the book.
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