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The Kitchen House

Kathleen Grissom

Start date: August 22, 2016

Finish date: August 30, 2016

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What Members Thought

Aug 01, 2017 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-and-a-half-to-5-stars, historical-fiction, slavery, multiple-points-of-view

4.5 stars!

Omg god this book made me feel so many emotions.

4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2012 Judy rated it really liked it

In 1791, the owner of Tall Oaks, a tobacco plantation in southern Virginia, brings home a 7 year old white, Irish orphan named Lavinia and put her to work in the kitchen house under the care of Belle, his half-white illegitimate daughter. Lavinia has no memory of her family or her past life and she quickly becomes part of a large, loving slave family headed by Mama Mae and Papa George. As Lavinia grews up over the next decade, her position between the world of the Big house and the world of her In 1791, the owner of Tall Oaks, a tobacco plantation in southern Virginia, brings home a 7 year old white, Irish orphan named Lavinia and put her to work in the kitchen house under the care of Belle, his half-white illegitimate daughter. Lavinia has no memory of her family or her past life and she quickly becomes part of a large, loving slave family headed by Mama Mae and Papa George. As Lavinia grews up over the next decade, her position between the world of the Big house and the world of her new family becomes increasingly strained. This book by a debut author touches on a number of topics and themes that comprised the complex world of American slavery and having Belle and Lavinia alternate as narrators makes the book even more powerful. For example, the subject of racial mixing and the result that it had on the children of those unions is explored. Belle was the child of a loving relationship between the plantation owner and a black woman and after her mother's death, Belle was raised in the Big House as the recognized daughter of the house. Unfortunately, after the death of her beloved paternal grandmother, her father decided to marry and he moved Belle into the kitchen house and she then lived and worked with the slaves. In fact, her father never acknowledged to his new wife that Belle was his daughter and Belle's stepmother came to believe that Belle was his mistress. But, many slave women were forced to have sexual relations with their owners and their children carried no legal recognition and often received no special privileges. In the interactions among the characters, Grissom also highlights the difference in status between the slaves who worked at the Big House and those who worked in the fields. And the characters, of both races, displayed behaviors that stretch the common ideas about family, love, loyalty, and sacrifice. Putting a human face on slavery makes the institution so much more callous and vicious and Kathleen Grisson does a good job of peeling back the layers of the institution to examine its interworkings. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 10, 2011 Jen Ifer's Inklings rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio-books, read-in-2012, 5-star-reads

I've been hearing about this book for the last few months. I knew it was one that I wanted to read. Historical fiction has always been interesting to me, especially when it deals with social issues.

The Kitchen House did not disappoint. It's story will stay with me for many years to come. ...more

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Jun 18, 2023 Olympia rated it really liked it

Shelves: swapping-book, own-it

This book was very emotional. The characters were very well depicted. And having a Lavinia in my class this year made me want to grab my book and read every time I said her name.

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