Setting the SCENE

[Brantford]

Did the author do a good job of taking you to the time and place of the novel? Did you feel immersed in that world while you were reading?

[Karen]

Oh, she absolutely does a great job of description without going to the extreme. We get a glimpse of the lavishness of the big house and the extreme poverty of the slaves quarters. Who amongst us would ever know that slaves stole boards from the smoke house to acquire salt. The rape of Belle puts us in the room but thankfully we are spared a detailed description. However, this scene and a few others makes the reader aware of the extent of the inappropriate treatment the slaves received. It is also clear to us most perpetrators were never punished for the mistreatment of the people they owned. What a horrid thing; OWNING people.
The author makes us aware of the characters wants, desires and depravity but also that there is kindness and love amongst them. Through her characters actions we are made aware of the good, the bad and the ugly.

[Anna]

Yes I thought she did a pretty good job setting the scene as well. I got a good feel of the atmosphere in both the kitchen house and the main house as well as a good sense of what a southern plantation in that time period might have been like.