The Kitchen House in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jan 16, 2013 Michelle rated it it was amazing

This is one of the most depressing books in existence. I spent the majority of my time reading this and crying. My book is all warped now from my tears. It's two days later and I'm finding it hard to write a review. The book was amazingly written and well researched. It is hard to comprehend the life that many of these people led. I know it's fiction, but the truth is in there. These things happened. So many slave families were torn apart because they were looked upon as property and not people. ...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Gina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2013, self-actualization, african-american, true-love, contemporary-fiction, cross-cultural, parenting, traveling-road-trips, women-s-issues, ccc-club

Goodreads Description- When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is Goodreads Description- When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

This book extraordinary! It is engrossing and heart wrenching. I cannot believe that this book is the work of a debut author. If this is what Kathleen Grissom starts out with then I cannot wait to find out what she can do next.

This is the story of Lavinia, who, at the age of 7, has lost her parents at sea when her family was crossing the Atlantic leaving Ireland to find a new life in America. Lavinia soon becomes an indentured servant and is put in the Kitchen House of a large plantation with other slaves who soon become her new family. The book is told in alternating viewpoints. Lavinia who seems like the weaker of the two narrators just can't figure out the difference between her "whiteness" and her new family's "colored" skin and why it would mean such a difference in treatment. She finds comfort with both the Kitchen House slaves and in their children. She is often put to task to help out in the big house and to help mind the younger slave children. The other narrator is Belle who become Lavinia's mother figure throughout the book. Belle is much more grounded in the reality of their situation and often tries to protect Lavinia from the harsh truth of slavery and their masters and mistresses.

Grissom has done an exceptional job portraying the awfulness of slavery and how they were treated without going into the terrible detail that she could have gone into with all of the beatings, rapes, and terrible treatment that the slaves underwent. However her story definitely still portrays the evils of slavery even though she avoided going into detail of the horrific things that were happening to the slaves. Grissom has also clearly done her homework on the differing social status's of the house slaves and the field slaves, the slaves meager ways of living and trying to maintain a happy home, despite their miserable treatment, detailing descriptions of marriages and holidays. She also goes into detail about what food were prepared at the time and the games the children played to pass the time.

Sometimes I had to put down this book because the events that took place were so emotional that I just had to take a break. Even so I was eager to get back to reading to see what would happen next. This was a real tear jerker but a fantastic novel about the darkness and evil that existed for African Americans during the days of slavery. I highly recommend this book. 5 stars! ...more

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Nov 15, 2017 Lori rated it liked it

Well this is not an uplifting story and it was a bit depressing. However, when approaching a topic of slavery and indentured servitude, I am thinking that there cannot be a happily ever after. I give the author credit for talking about and showing what slavery really was and why it was so evil. It was an industry and a belief system that made a human being property. The profound brutality of our past has to be talked about and I think art is just one way to remind people of our history. I would ...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Debbie (Doc) rated it it was amazing

5 stars

My all time favorite book is Gone With the Wind. I can read it over and over. This book reminds me of the other side of Tara – the slave quarters. I am from the south and love to read historical fiction novels taking place on plantations. I haven’t read very many 5 star books lately, but Ms. Grissom’s book has now moved to the top of my 2012 favorite book list. I also don’t keep very many of my books. Once I read them, I either swap them, give them away, or trade them at our local used b 5 stars

My all time favorite book is Gone With the Wind. I can read it over and over. This book reminds me of the other side of Tara – the slave quarters. I am from the south and love to read historical fiction novels taking place on plantations. I haven’t read very many 5 star books lately, but Ms. Grissom’s book has now moved to the top of my 2012 favorite book list. I also don’t keep very many of my books. Once I read them, I either swap them, give them away, or trade them at our local used bookstore. However, the Kitchen House will be housed right next to my beloved Gone With the Wind hardback collectors edition.

This book elicits so many emotions – happy, sad, and angry, and can leave the reader raw, which I think is part of the intention. The book is told in the first person by two main characters, which might annoy some readers. However, I found it not to be an issue. The history of this book on the slave side is well researched and depicts how these unfortunate people lived and even died.
Although this book is not a series, Ms. Grissom has left it open in the event that she wants to revisit some of the youngers characters. This reader will be waiting patiently!

Back Cover

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.
Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.
Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

The Kitchen House ...more

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Sep 24, 2016 Kathy rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed-books, hf-american, culture, books-read-in-2016, 2016-gr-olympic-games

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Lavina was orphaned at seven years old when both her parents had passed away on a ship bound from Ireland for North America. The Captain of the ship took Lavina to his Tobacco plantation and had her stay with a family of slaves. Momma Mae and Papa George take Lavina and raise her as if she is one of their own. She learns about the bonds of family and also what its like to live in two worlds. ...more

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