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.