The Letter Writer

by Ann Rinaldi

Eleven-year-old Harriet Whitehead is an outsider in her own family. She feels accepted and important only when she is entrusted to write letters for her blind stepmother. Then Nat Turner, a slave preacher, arrives on her family’s plantation and Harriet befriends him, entranced by his gentle manner and eloquent sermons about an all-forgiving God. When Nat asks Harriet for a map of the county to help him spread the word, she draws it for him—wanting to be part of something important. But the map turns out to be the missing piece that sets Nat’s secret plan in motion and makes Harriet an unwitting accomplice to the bloodiest slave uprising in U.S. history.Award-winning historical novelist Ann Rinaldi has created a bold portrait of an ordinary young girl thrust in to a situation beyond her control.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Fiction, Middle Grade, Teen, 19th Century

217 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Ann Rinaldi (b. August 27, 1934, in New York City) is a young adult fiction author. She is best known for her historical fiction, including In My Father's House, The Last Silk Dress, An Acquaintance with Darkness, A Break with Charity, and Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons. She has written a total of forty novels, eight of which were listed as notable by the ALA. In 2000, Wolf by the Ears was listed as one the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last one hundred years. She is the most prolific writer for the Great Episode series, a series of historical fiction novels set during the American Colonial era. She also writes for the Dear America series.

Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. She continued the column, called The Trentonian, through much of her writing career. Her first published novel, Term Paper, was written in 1979. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called "terrible." She became a grandmother in 1991.

Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. She says that she writes young adult books "because I like to write them."

Reviews

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books that blew me away. I knew it was about the Nat Turner slave uprising, but somehow that did not compute—did not translate into reality. Until midway through this story of an eleven-year-old girl. Yes, Harriet is only eleven. But this is a shocking tale of violence, deprivation, and human fallibility.

Stunning.

The girl in the cover photo is standing in front of a wall of flame, and yet I didn’t even realize it until the end of the book. A tribute to the author’s ability to challenge our preconceptions: about history, the South, and children.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Ann Rinaldi so this is Historical Fiction and I love me some historical fiction! The scene is Virginia in 1831. Living with her stepmother, Harriet Whitehead is eleven and because Mrs. Whitehead is going blind, Harriet is given the job of writing all of her correspondence. She feels a bit unwelcome in this family because she is the child of Mrs. Whitehead's husband and another woman. Her half-brother Richard, the Methodist minister has made it clear to her that she is less-than-welcome. Harriet also has Violet, a young slave girl who helps her around the plantation. Soon, the Whiteheads hear of another slave who is a good furniture maker and a preacher. His name is Nat Turner. Unwittingly, Harriet strikes up a friendship and supplies him with a traced map of the region, marking out all the plantations. Harriet is a witness to Turner's rebellion that leaves 55 white people dead, her family included.

Rinaldi handles the question of Turner's place in history neutrally. She doesn't take a side and leaves that to the reader. There are some squirrely events (an "uncle" turns out to be Harriet's long-lost father), but it's a good handling of a difficult moment in history. There is violence and some sexual suggestive parts. Bibliography included.

I always love what Rinaldi has prints on the back page of her novels:
WARNING: This is a historical novel. Read at your own risk. The writer feels it necessary to alert you to the fact that you might enjoy it.

[Jacque · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel brings alive the Nat Turner rebellion of 1831 in the eyes of an 11 year old girl, whose family owns a Virginia plantation, in an enjoyable, fast read. The setting starts out sunny and pretty, then gets gruesome later. Rinaldi takes care for the younger readers that she doesn't write in a way that the reader will get heavily emotionally invested in the characters that die in the story. She balances the horrific scenes with some good actions or revelations accompanying those scenes. Therefore, it doesn't have a dark or hopeless quality. Still, I would recommend it for 9th grade and up and not younger kids, but then I am a bit protective as a Mom.

I liked the twists at the end. I didn't care for a couple of plot points:
1. The protagonist has visions of killings while away from the scene, explained like they were some mystical abilities that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

2. The protagonist displays a sudden amazing ability to run a plantation at age eleven, her only training having written some business correspondence over a few months dictated to her by her step-mother, who has become nearly-blind, and is the plantation mistress.

There were a few minor details that only caused a small eyebrow-raise as to either credibility, or needing further explanation; but otherwise, as an adult, I really enjoyed this novel and what it taught me about an actual event in American history that needs remembrance.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when the book I'm reading has a villain that is so terrible I actually hate him after the book is over. This book definitely has that and more. The story is about the Whitehead plantation in Virginia and the girl who gave Nat Turner the map of the county and he went on to kill fifty-seven people between seven different plantations. I really liked Harriet's character she always stood up for herself and her friends and didn't let her older brother push her around any more than was necessary. I think it would be fabulous to be a letter writer you would know all the things that were going on so you would pretty much have a leg up on everyone. I really disliked Nat Turner, I had always heard he was like some kind of savior, it turns out that he is just a zealot and a murderer. Even now thinking about it makes me want to go back and have a few words with him. Harriet trusted him and he used her. I mean yes, slavery is wrong and most of the things done to them was terrible, but Harriet was an innocent and he betrayed her which to me makes him no better than those he was trying to get revenge against. I can't imagine what he thought he would accomplish by killing a bunch of people besides getting himself hanged. This book will probably make me due further research on Nat Turner to learn everything that really happened.

[Lisa Rathbun · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've not read any historical fiction on Nat Turner, so I was interested. However, I'm not thrilled with the style. There's a lot of telling not showing.



*Spoilers* There's several references to adultery, and Harriet's overbearing half-brother, a Methodist minister, is shown as "cruel and unfair" for removing a woman from his congregation when she was living with a man. He is seen as cruel, sadistic, and cold, so the assumption is that the reader will think he is wrong for doing this. Twice people have said, "Church is for sinners." Well, the body of Christ is composed of forgiven sinners. As Jesus said, "Go and sin no more." Mother Whitehead, as a proper Southern aristocrat, probably realistically would have been horrified at this other woman's actions not say, "Why'd you kick her out of church? She makes good pie." Anyway, earlier Mother Whitehead is portrayed as knowing everything that's going on so why would she not know what this woman was doing? This seems to be authorial error. Also the author never clarifies why Pleasant would marry Richard. Another inconsistency is when the author states that the ancient Cloanna had few visitors, but she was the grandmother to all the slaves on the plantation and they came to her to tell her their secrets. Hmmmm. Seems like the author had two images - the mysterious fortune telling crone and the kindly, old wise woman - and couldn't reconcile the two.



Once the raid occurred, the action was really confusing. Harriet "sees" it occur in her imagination, then later finds out some details, then later even more. She discusses how she is somehow spiritually tied with Nat Turner, which I thought corny.

[Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a while ago. It's a nice short little historical fiction about Nat Turner's slave rebellion. There is a strange sort of fantastical element in the story, but otherwise it was really enjoyable. I should really reread this. Maybe I'd given it a different rating than I initially did - 4/5 stars.

[Jackie♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm just getting into Ann Rinaldi, and I must say this is my favorite one by her yet. Harriet appealed to me as a character because she trusted Turner, and even after what he'd done, I still didn't get the sense that she truly hated him. She knew that she was the reason why the killings took place as well. This showed me she had remorse, which I appreciated.

The way this book is written with the letters made it a good read. It seemed a bit three dimensional, as I could see and understand what was happening around the story, and not just in it.

I have to say I was not a bit confused starting this book, as I was with Leigh Ann's Civil War. It jumped in perfectly, and I quickly became interested in the topic. I found myself wondering what was going to take place after I read each chapter, even after the first one.

The twist at the end, with Uncle Andrew was very heartwarming. I love how Violet turned out to be her half-sister. It was a good twist, and I think it added to the book in a good way. It assured me that Harriet wouldn't end up alone on the plantation.

I love how Rinaldi creates her characters. No matter how big or small a role they have, she always gives them just enough depth. My favorite characters were in fact Harriet, Uncle Andrew, and dare I say it, Nat Turner.

Nat Turner's character had two sides. I did not know about his role in history before reading this book, and I didn't completely understand from the summary. Because of this, in the beginning I truly came to like him as a person. When I found out he was killing people, I was a bit shocked, but I still couldn't hate him. In my eyes, he was still the simple man from the baptism.

This is a good book overall. It had a great plot, suspense, and was beautifully written. In my opinion, it showed a non-bias view on Nat Turner, and left you to decide, was he good or bad?

[Kateri · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 STARS
There are moments when Anne Rinaldi's writing style just stuns you...and there are moments when it's surprisingly lackluster, and I say surprisingly because most of the book's writing was spot on. Hypnotizing and cryptic and simmering; it packed a good punch where it needed to.
Can you tell I really liked the writing?!
I also loved the MC, Harriet's, character. She is honest and smart, thoughtful and compassionate. But the only problem I did have was that I honestly felt she was way too young. I found this book in the YA section of my library, but was put-off by the fact that Harriet is eleven years old. I am not one to discredit the commonly undermined wit, intelligence, and maturity of young people, but if Rinaldi was going to create such a matured young character, then there was something missing in this little girl -- the little. There were definitely moments when her vulnerability and naivete shined through, but not in a way that was executed well enough to make her read so young. She's hardly even pre-teen at this point.
I will say that other than Rinaldi's writing style, I highly commend her unwillingness to shy away from the brutality that was the Nat Turner rebellion. Through this young girl's eyes we get a gruesome picture of what it was like, and in general, what slavery was like. I know this is YA, but it is also clearly younger YA and though I would like to recommend it to younger readers, I would use caution in my choices, especially if they might not respond well to brutal killings...like the killing of children.
Overall, it was an engrossing story with well thought-out and diverse characters. The ending was lacking, but the whole second half of the book made for a good climax. I also think this could have been a longer story.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to think when I picked up this book. A book about Nat Turner's slave rebellion is obviously not going to be sunshine and lollipops. I was very impressed with how Rinaldi handled this difficult subject. A few things made this book good. First of all it is a Young Adult book, so it doesn't try to be overly academic or harsh. Secondly it is not too long, just over 200 pages. The plot does not get bogged down in unimportant details. Character development and lead up to the main event aren't mucked up with too many extras. I also appreciated how Rinaldi managed the subject of Nat Turner himself. The evils of slavery were clearly shown and recognized by the main character. Two slaves were beaten (one to death) in the story. It was obvious that Nat Turner and many around him were inhumanly treated simply because they were slaves. Harriet's young voice told about these injustices. She also told about the horror of Turner's rebellion. Rinaldi doesn't spare readers the horror of the events (men, women, children, and babies killed). Harriet never understands what made Nat change from a preacher who imparted wisdom in to the leader of a massacre. Harriet's youth forces the readers to understand how historians feel about Turner. In her note at the end about Nat Turner, she stresses how little we still understand about him. I think a book from an adult point of view would not have done such a good job conveying that.

I recommend this to anyone above around 13 who is interested in historical fiction. This book was a good introduction to Ann Rinaldi's books. Let's hope the next one I read will be this good.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read this before bed. If you do, plan to read the whole thing.

This is perhaps the darkest children's/y.a. book I've ever read. It's about the rebellion of Nat Turner, and it's extremely gruesome. I mean, extremely. Rinaldi writes something in her author's notes (at the end, I think) about how children's lit has become "sharper." That's one way of putting it, when you've got . . . well, it's violent. I would not think of this as literature for young people at all.

I learned quite a bit about the Nat Turner rebellion that I didn't know, and Rinaldi is really good about not trying to make us -- or even help us -- make sense of his contradictions. If you know anything at all about slavery in the south, you'll understand why he exploded. But 57 people did get slaughtered (I deliberately didn't use the word "killed," since they were slaughtered) in that rebellion, including small babies (the thought being that they'd grow up to be terrible white slave-owners, which was probably accurate), and not in gentle ways. I wasn't surprised that William Styron, author of Sophie's Choice (a book I've never been able to get myself interested in reading, since the movie was so completely haunting), wrote a novel about the Nat Turner insurrection.

The portrayal of Christianity, especially the ministers, is very disturbing. Consider that Harriet's half-brother is a hellfire and brimstone preacher, who is sadistic as well; Nat Turner is the preacher who talks about God's incredible love. Well, that didn't turn out to be Turner's creed either.

I'm still reeling from the extremely graphic violence.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

For an illegitimate child in the antebellum south, Harriet enjoys a comfortable lifestyle. She lives with her father's widow, who treats Harriet with compassion despite her origins. Mother Whitehead runs the plantation with grace while allowing her oldest son, Richard, to deal with the unsavory elements. A stern young minister, Richard believes in a vengeful, punishing god. Meanwhile, Harriet becomes fascinated with another young preacher in the area, a slave named Nat Turner. Harriet befriends Nat and he asks her to lend him a map. Harriet feels uneasy, but complies after Nat assures her that he only wants to use it for preaching. Unfortunately, Nat's version of preaching to the slave owners turns out to be a bloody massacre which takes the lives of her entire family and many others. Harriet prepares to take over as the mistress of the plantation on her own, until the uncle she has been writing to returns and reveals himself as her father.

While the basic plot of this novel is compelling, the story suffers from convoluted sub-plots and a long, drawn-out conclusion. In addition, the motives of Nat Turner's rebellion are overlooked. Although the story is written from the perspective of a young white girl whose family and friends are needlessly slain, the just elements of Turner's cause--fighting for freedom--could still have been addressed. Instead, Rinaldi chooses to focus the remainder of the novel on replaying the narrator's vision of the violent events and untangling complicated issues with her father.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Ann Rinaldi book I have read that I think needs to have a warning attached, as it involves some very, very graphic violence.

It's the story of Virginia in 1830, of an eleven-year-old girl named Juliet, and of a slave uprising. Southerners fear slave uprisings terribly. Even with that, though, many slave-owners basically tortured their slaves, whipping them for any reason whatever or even for no reason at all. Some would even do this so much that a slave would die, yet the owner would not be arrested or tried.

Slaves were considered property, not necessarily humans. They could be bought and sold. Families could be split apart by this, a mother, for example, watching as her children were sold into slavery and sent somewhere where she might never see them again, yet there was nothing that could be done.

Which is a factor in why there was a fear of uprisings, the people doing these terrible things worried that someday the Blacks would seek there revenge.

This book concerns just one of those times, when a slave named Nat Turner appears to be a religious man. He tricks Juliet into making a copy of a map for him, and he uses that map, plus other slaves he has gathered to his 'cause' to lead a slave uprising. The group ends up killed 57 white people, most of them women and children.

Juliet is worried that the map she made will be found and she will be blamed for what happened, even though she got him the map thinking he was just going to do some preaching to Blacks on various plantations.

It's a harsh book, but well done.

[Kayna Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was a little edgier than the others I have read by Rinaldi, but it was also more intense than the others. Harriet Whitehead lives in a home run by her stepbrother Richard who is a minister who preaches about a stern and punishing God. When her blinding stepmother can no longer see to write her letters Richard decides that she should become Mother Whitehead's letter writer. After many requests Nat Turner comes to their plantation to repair furniture. He is a kind preacher who preaches of a kind and forgiving God. Harriet prefers his interpretation much more than Richard's. When Turner asks her to get a map for him to study, Harriet is unsure of what to do. After Turner tells her that he simply wants it so he can preach to the plantations, she traces a copy of it for him. In doing this, Harriet provides the key that Nat Turner needed in order to carry out the bloodiest slave uprising in US history where 57 people, men, women, and children, were killed.
I was astounded with everything that happened in this book. Rinaldi is skilled at capturing her reader's interest. I could not put it down! I sympathized for Harriet who was caught in the middle of the killings with a horrible conscious about what she had supplied. The ending is somewhat predictable but not in all parts. It was a really great read but somewhat gruesome during the uprising.

[Hannah Cookson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harriet Whitehead is the daughter of Mr. Whitehead who died and left her with his wife and her step siblings. She is raised in a plantation with many slaves belonging to the family. Her step brother is mean and cruel. Her step sister has morality issues. Her step mother is blind and needs someone to write letters for her. The job is given to Harriet. A Black preacher comes into town and Harriet gets pulled into helping him. Little does she know the effects of her helping.

I liked the historical context of the book. I liked the story of Harriet and how she survives what goes on throughout a blood battle of the slave rebellion. I rated it 4 stars because it is bloody, but it is because this was not any regular slave rebellion. It is very graphic. There are somethings that talk about the step sister wanting the slaves and the slaves that want her get beat. Just little things like this make the book hard to read. I would want to bring in this book to talk about the slave rebellion, but definitely not the entire book.

Warnings:
Genre: Historical Fiction
Violence: Graphic Violence pertaining to the rebellion, slave treatment, and to the killing of people.
Sexual: N/A
Language: There is a little language when talking about the slaves.
Other books: Rebels against slavery and behind enemy lines

[Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely heavy. Very good.
There were a few plot things I didn't like, a lot having to do with me reading this, as a white person, and being uncomfortable with the treatment of slaves. I do think, however, that it being historical fiction, it was appropriate for the time, and that it's good that it makes me uncomfortable. History shouldn't be hidden, but learned from, and feeling uncomfortable about is is a good way to learn.

Any other issues I have with it are due to it being short, and children's (young adult?) fiction, which isn't necessarily a negative. I'm an adult, but I know I would have been able to handle a book like this probably as young as ten, as I read similarly heavy books (albeit mostly fantasy or complete fiction), but of course all children age differently, and not children that young would be able to handle a book like this.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome historical fiction book. I love these types of books that inspire the mind to want to know more about history and this book does that. You can't help but be entranced with the main character and her story. The end even has a little twist at the end for those like me that often don't see things coming.

[Charity U · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This was a very interesting book, and quite clean as well. It's a bit violent...in fact, it's centered around "the bloodiest slave revolt" or something along those lines. Nat Turner is a main character. Written from a young girl's standpoint. It was interesting, eye-opening, and I learned from it!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harriet becomes the "letter writer" for Mother Whitehead in the pre-civil war south. The story of her complicate story unfolds through letters that she writes for Mother Whitehead and also letters that Harriet writes to her 'Uncle' overseas.
Tensions rise between the slaves and the slave owners.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read a book about the Nat Turner Rebellion before now. While historical fiction often leaves authors' opinions peppered throughout the stories, this one did not. The attempt to understand Nat Turner was not made. The reader must decide how to organize his / her own thoughts about this event. Well written--one I will recommend to my students this year.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of historical fiction and I always say the sign of good historical fiction is if it makes me want to read more about the events in the book. This one did that job. I went out and got some non-fiction about Nat Turner the next day.

[Finvarra Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by Ann Rinaldi. This book is about The Nat Turner Rebellion. Rinaldi does a wonderful job writing about it. It is a tragic story, many deaths and a lot of suffering.

Really, the first book on the Nat Turner Rebellion I have read that I really liked.

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was amazing i normaly dont like historical fiction but this was really good it talks about Nat Turners rebellion and how all of the main caricters/ Harriets family and most of her friends die.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this was shelved as a juvenile fiction, I think it is definitely more of a young adult read. From a lot of talk about extra marital affairs to the graphic massacre that it presents. It was a good presentation of a historical event, but I wouldn't be placing it in the children's section.

[Bev · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just oculdn't get interested in this book, an historical fiction about slavery. I don't think Ann Rinaldi is an especially good writer, but sometimes the story can carry the writer. This time, however, I wasn't enjoying it and couldn't make myself keep going.

[Cheryl-Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating juvenile historical fiction. Eleven-year-old Harriet was an extremely likable character for me. The book was slow at first but once it picked up- wow! Fascinating read that brings to life Virginia in 1831.

[Jennifer W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid historical fiction novel for young adults by Rinaldi. I know somewhere in my education Nat Turner and his uprising were mentioned, but beyond that, I remember nothing. I'm going to have to do some more research because he strikes me as a very interesting figure in American history.

[Allison Linnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a really good fictional book. Having to do with history, I thought I wouldn't like it, but then I actually read it and found it really good. Especially with the uprising and the secrets that are revealed at the end of the story. Amazing.

[Kristy Ziolkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical young adult fiction. A story about a fictional young girl living on a plantation. The story introduces the real Nat Turner a black slave who starts a bloody uprising against plantation owners, their families, and some of their slaves. A very sad tale in our nations history.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really intense and there are lot's of murders. It wasn't the best book ever and I didn't like how people got killed. I wouldn't reccomend this book to somebody who doesn't like stories about how white people used to treat slaves. This book was also very violent.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so tragically sad. I think slavery must be one of the worst evils there is. No human should own another. It's hard to understand why someone as "nice" as Nat Turner would become a killer unless the injustice of slavery sent him over the brink. No two wrongs make one right.