Original Sins: A Novel of Slavery & Freedom

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Original Sins: A Novel of Slavery & Freedom

3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 · rating details · 59 ratings · 22 reviews

Why would a runaway Virginia slave—having built a rewarding life in the East Indies as a silk merchant—risk everything by returning to America in 1840, eighteen years after taking her freedom?

Anibaddh Lyngdoh claims that she intends to introduce a new kind of silk to the floundering American silk industry. But her true reason, as her old friend Grace MacDonald Pollocke di...more

Hardcover, 428 pages

Published August 9th 2010 by W. W. Norton & Company

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Mar 09, 2013 Amanda rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: crap

**This was an advance reader's copy that I received from Library Thing**

There will be spoilers. Be forewarned.

If it hadn't been for the fact that I had agreed to review this book in order to receive a free copy, I would have abandoned it long ago. Alas, I am a woman of my word when it comes to getting free stuff, so I trudged through all 400+ pages. I may have to alter this view and just stick to paying for the good stuff in the future.

Why did I volunteer to read this book, other than the fact t...more

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Nov 11, 2010 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good novel with a strong female protagonist -- in fact there were two key female characters: the heroine Grace and her onetime rescuer Rani.
Grace is a Scottish native who currently works as a portrait artist in Philadelphia. Her husband is a trader who is often away on buying trips to China. She visits cousins in Virginia to help her friend Rani find out what has become of the daughter that Rani left behind 18 years ago when Rani escaped to freedom.
The plot revolves around Grace attempt t...more

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May 17, 2010 Barbara Mitchell rated it 4 of 5 stars

I hadn't read Peg Kingman's previous books so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the story sounded interesting. After reading it, I'm going to look for her other books, because this one is so well-written and I particularly enjoyed her manner of depicting character. I felt like I knew many of the characters in Original Sins.

The time is 1840. Grace MacDonald Pollacke is an artist who lives in Philadelphia with her husband Daniel, a China trader. Grace has lived all over the world; she met and marr...more I hadn't read Peg Kingman's previous books so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the story sounded interesting. After reading it, I'm going to look for her other books, because this one is so well-written and I particularly enjoyed her manner of depicting character. I felt like I knew many of the characters in Original Sins.

The time is 1840. Grace MacDonald Pollacke is an artist who lives in Philadelphia with her husband Daniel, a China trader. Grace has lived all over the world; she met and married Dan in Canton in fact. She accepts an invitation to go to a plantation in Virginia to paint miniatures of the family as a gift for their father. Actually she has ulterior motives for being there and hides the fact that she is related to this family.

Grace is a free spirit who abhors slavery. She is a freethinker, called an atheist by people in those days, but I think actually something closer to an agnostic. She is also loathe to just keep her mouth shut when she sees how little education American women are allowed, and is infuriated when she butts up against the fact that she has no legal standing because of her sex, and Dan must deal with the law on her behalf. Since she can't speak freely much of the time, she has long internal dialogues about these things. Kingman's depiction of the times and the scenes shows impeccable research.

I do have some dislikes about the book. I think it should be shorter and less reliant upon coincidences. I'll give an author a lot of room with coincidence for a good story, but this book just has too many. I also think the villain is too evil, and a scene involving a chess game could have been omitted with no harm done. Those long passages about her beliefs could also have been much shorter with no loss of character presentation.

Having said all that, I loved Grace and Dan, and could easily visualize the other characters. Kingman's way with characters is excellent. I would recommend this book too because it's just plain a great story and very true to the period.(less)

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Jan 17, 2011 Michelle added it

Original Sins is a historical novel that is more philosophical diatribe than one that contributes a greater understanding to historical events. It tries too hard to be grand in scope and ends up being polarizing as it discusses topics that are more appropriate to today's society than Philadelphia and Virginia in the 1840s. While Ms. Kingman uses historical figures in her novel to lend an air of authenticity to the novel, these true-life characters do not blend well with their fictional counterpa...more Original Sins is a historical novel that is more philosophical diatribe than one that contributes a greater understanding to historical events. It tries too hard to be grand in scope and ends up being polarizing as it discusses topics that are more appropriate to today's society than Philadelphia and Virginia in the 1840s. While Ms. Kingman uses historical figures in her novel to lend an air of authenticity to the novel, these true-life characters do not blend well with their fictional counterparts. The result is a novel that is largely inconsistent and jagged, moving from one topic to another with little fluidity.

The biggest fault of Original Sins is the multitude of topics. Ms. Kingman attempts to blend such topics as daguerreotypes, silkworms, religion, slavery, politics, painting, gardening, Indian and Virginian cultures and more. This is simply too much information to combine into one 428-page novel. As a result, character development is distinctly lacking, and the reader remains removed from Grace's plight. The rest of the characters remain decidedly stereotypical and one-noted. One gets the impression that certain subjects were only introduced in an effort to discuss other topics, and all the topics do not mesh well together but appeared forced together out of sheer will. There is a distinct stuttering to the novel. Just as the reader settles into a new subject matter, Ms. Kingman introduces another one. As a result, the story flows awkwardly.

The novel has the subtitle of A Novel of Slavery and Freedom. It truly should state A Novel of Slavery and Religion because the novel is more a diatribe against slavery and organized religion. One has no doubts as to the sentiments of Ms. Kingman. Those readers who are deeply religious may do well to avoid Original Sins because the religious Southerners are caricatured and portrayed in an extremely unflattering light. The discussions of slavery are distinctly religious in nature, as the slaveholders use the Bible to defend their actions, while Grace uses the same Bible to denounce slavery. The debate rages over many pages, much to the detriment of the main plot.

Original Sins is enjoyable but distracting. While the physical descriptions are beautiful and vivid, the dialogue is awful - stilted and trite. There is just too much of everything - too many different subjects, too many twists and turns, an ending that is too pat and too neatly accomplished. There are enjoyable sections of the novel; Ms. Kingman's focus on the natural beauty and physical descriptions of nature are amazing and detailed enough to please the most discerning gardener. Unfortunately, descriptions do nothing to help improve the overall connectivity of a novel that tries too hard to address two extremely difficult topics while presenting itself as enlightened and amazingly well-rounded. Unfortunately, Original Sins falls prey to the adage, "jack of all trades, master of none," as its tackling of such diverse topics is ultimately its downfall.(less)

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Dec 25, 2010 Sarah Wagner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

*I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*

While enjoyable, I was somewhat disappointed that this book did not focus more on the character of Anibaddh Lyngdoh, the runaway slave who returns to claim her daughter, and was instead centered on Grace MacDonald Pollocke. Grace is an interesting character herself, but I did feel that her atheism was given too much emphasis and gave the novel a sense of less historical accuracy. In addition, Grace can be somewhat naive at times - or ov...more

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Jan 08, 2011 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

For me, the best thing about historical fiction is the chance to learn something new while being entertained with an engrossing story. Original Sins meets both of those criteria. Grace, a young white woman in early 19th century America is a painter of miniatures, is exceptionally independent for the times, was a world traveler, has a husband who travels frequently and a racist mother-in-law. When she was a young orphan living in Scotland, an aunt came to drag her back to live with relatives. No...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Rosanne rated it 1 of 5 stars

I usually read 100 pages of a book before I make a decision; however, this time I couldn't even get that far. To me it was a lot of pretentious babble. By this I mean, that the dialog between the characters was written as if someone was pretending to be "high class and snobby". I found it irritating and could not continue to read any further.

I feel badly when I give a bad review because I know how much goes into writing a book. I have no patience for a book that doesn't capture my attention righ...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Jori Richardson rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone, especially HF fans

Shelves: books-owned, historical-fiction, writer-from-scotland, characters-i-loved

"Original Sins" is the story of Grace Pollocke, a married woman in 1800's Pennsylvania who is unexpectedly reunited with a childhood friend - Anibadh, who fled from a life of slavery in Virginia years ago. Why would a runaway slave return and risk being discovered? When Grace asks herself the same question, she finds that Ani has returned in search of her daughter, still a slave at a plantation in Virginia, which just so happens to be owned by Grace's long-lost cousins. Concealing her identity,...more

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Oct 11, 2010 the little reader rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, read-in-2010

i was drawn to this book by the cover and the synopsis promising deceit, forgery, fraud, perjury and possible murder in the historical context of slavery and freedom. aside from that, i really didn’t know what to expect. and to be honest, the synopsis didn’t really do a great job of preparing me for this novel, but as a new-to-me author, i was wholly impressed and am definitely curious enough to pick up Kingman’s other book Not Yet Drown’d.

on the surface, this book is about Grace, a native of Sc...more i was drawn to this book by the cover and the synopsis promising deceit, forgery, fraud, perjury and possible murder in the historical context of slavery and freedom. aside from that, i really didn’t know what to expect. and to be honest, the synopsis didn’t really do a great job of preparing me for this novel, but as a new-to-me author, i was wholly impressed and am definitely curious enough to pick up Kingman’s other book Not Yet Drown’d.

on the surface, this book is about Grace, a native of Scotland and an accomplished portrait painter. she is married to Daniel, an American merchant and they are living a mostly charmed life. when Grace’s childhood friend Annibadh shows up in town, a runaway slave who had previously fled the country, Grace is pulled into a web of family secrets that run deeper than any of them could have imagined. that covers the synopsis, but there’s so much more to the book than that, really.

in addition to the family saga that unfolds, this book also has several side plots that were both educational and interesting. as a portrait artist, Grace takes a professional interest in painting and the development of photographic techniques of the time. Grace’s cousin also has a keen interest in chemistry, and between the two of them, there is a great amount of detail related to art and scientific progress, which i personally found fascinating. there is also quite a bit of information on the silk industry, which i wasn’t quite as curious about, but still found fascinating nonetheless. if these topics sound like they will bore you to no end, there may be a significant portion of the book that will really drag in the reading.

also, as the title would suggest, this book deals heavily with religion in the context of slavery. it is laced with preaching much more than i would have expected, but it is far from your conventional approach. Grace does not subscribe to the traditional religious beliefs and is a firm believer in the abolition of slavery. her family, on the other hand, consists of devout slaveholders and with her outspoken ways, Grace definitely ruffles some feathers along the way. so, if you are very religious and do not like reading anti-religious sentiments, this may again not be the book for you.

my favorite part of the book was definitely the characters. Grace and Daniel had one of the most genuinely enjoyable relationships that i have read about it in a while and their loving and playful marriage was wonderful to read. Grace as an individual also appealed to me (probably because i’m more like her than i’d like to admit) and i appreciated how stubborn and blunt she could be, even if it was a little extreme at times. in contrast to Grace, the rest of the family (and there were a lot of them) were so hilarious, with their over-the-top behavior that i laughed out loud quite a bit. it made for a not-so-subtle mockery of American culture and lifestyle in a mostly playful sort of way.

some will complain that the book is long winded and in some respects i would agree. Kingman does have the tendency to take conversations that do not necessarily move the plot or develop characters and draw them out, which can be discouraging to readers that need movement. however, the plot lines were well crafted and the characters were ripe with stark contrasts of virtue and sin and it worked for me. i rather enjoyed the rambling and found some of those scenes to be the most enjoyable to read.

all in all, i really enjoyed Original Sins and though i will be the first to admit that it is not a book for everyone, those that enjoy a patient historical read with rich dialogue will probably enjoy this. the rambling aside, it was well written with great characters and it kept me interested. it wasn’t perfect, but i was left perfectly satisfied.(less)

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Sep 25, 2011 Amy rated it 1 of 5 stars

I have never read a book so different from the cover jacket description! About a runaway slave returning to America, risking her freedom, her true story discovered by her friend Grace... No, this is the story of Grace, a self-important woman who was caught up in the escape of a slave when she was 8 (and in Scotland). The slave is barely an ancillary figure in the story of Grace, several story points are left unanswered/explained, and the moralizing/religiosity is nauseating. I read through to th...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Shirley Freeman added it

I liked this. It isn't necessarily a page-turner but it is a well developed story. The main character, Grace, is very likeable. She is an unusual woman for her time - a free thinker, an abolitionist, a painter who learns photography just as that field is being developed. The story has a good plot but you also learn a fair amount about living in the 1840's.

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May 05, 2011 Mary Kay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fascinating story of Philadelphia in the 1840s and the role of Quakers and other concerned citizens in the Underground Railroad. Part of the story happens in Virginia and the reader sees the gamut of human foibles from wife abuse to Bible-sanctioned slavery to degenerate men, young and old.

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May 27, 2012 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Haven't had a can't-put-it-down book in a long time. Really solid stuff, and you always learn something from Peg Kingman; this time, it was daguerrotypes, painting, silkworms and slave law.

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Jun 20, 2011 Sara Habein added it

Shelves: pass

(received this, but haven't read it. It's not really something I'm interested in, but I have added it to Bookswap for someone who might be. No point in it sitting around here unloved, right?)

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May 14, 2011 Barbara Hansen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Because this book is long and detailed, a reread is a pleasure; plenty of time to catch a bit of dialog missed the first time around. I find the main character completely fascinating. She's smart and gutzy. The story moves in a compelling fashion.

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Aug 27, 2010 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed-from-public-library, unfinished

Much, much longer than it needed to be, with an insufferable main character. The only reason I'd give it two stars is because the plot sounded so good.

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Oct 05, 2010 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of my favorite authors! All my senses are engaged when I read Kingman.

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Nov 12, 2010 Stefanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Strongly reccomend. Will be reading more of this author.

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Sep 13, 2010 Marissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: words-with-writers-interview

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A pure love of language and history reveals itself in Kingman's careful prose, vibrant characters, and attention to detailed description of a nineteenth-century America fraught with issues still prevalent in today's world.

Learn more about Peg Kingman from her interview on Words With Writers: http://wordswithwriters.com/2010/09/1...

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Feb 20, 2011 Rebecca rated it 1 of 5 stars

Just one of those books I couldn't finish...

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May 30, 2011 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-for-2011

Probably closer to a 2.5. I enjoyed the book but there were parts that just dragged. I ended up skipping a lot of the philosophical discussions.

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Feb 11, 2011 Chrissy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Wish I could give 1/2 stars. The book was completely predictable.

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May 01, 2013 Peterk added it

Mar 25, 2013 Stacey McBride rated it 3 of 5 stars

Feb 20, 2013 Zoe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Feb 16, 2013 Kimberlee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jan 18, 2013 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Dec 19, 2012 Sarah marked it as to-read

Dec 07, 2012 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Nov 02, 2012 Tracy marked it as to-read

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