This week I read The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.
Here is the description from Goodreads:
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.
What I thought:
I really loved this book! I was not able to put it down once I got started. I loved that each section was told by both Lavinia and Belle. It lets you see how different the two viewed the world and what was going on around them.
It has everything that I love. Great characters and history. It is set in the South in the time of slavery and has romance, murder, and the love of an unusual family.
I'm linking up today with Blonde, Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday.
