Tuesday

The Kitchen House: A Novel, Kathleen Grissom


The Kitchen House is not a light read. This book is however, very good and steps you back in time. The author does a great job of transporting you to a Virginia plantation in the last few years of the 1700’s and the first few of the 1800’s.

The Kitchen House is about the relationships between the white people in “the big house” and the slaves that do the work. In this story, the slave owners have a good relationship with their slaves and treat them nicely. After an outbreak of yellow fever, the next generation takes over and becomes the new owner of the plantation and the slaves. At this point, things turn tragically bad.

This novel takes you through the realities of slavery and the sadness of being under the control of your owner.

I enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down but like I said, it’s not a light read. Be prepared for some sadness if you choose to read this one.

The story is filled with horrific scandal but the author does a nice job of alluding to the scandals instead of laying out all of the gory details.

This story is told from the perspective of the slaves and the people in “the big house” so you get to see how both sides view different issues.

This was a great book and I felt like I learned what life was like for people during that time period.

9 comments:

Katie said...

very interesting- I'll definitely add it to my list! Thanks for the tip!

Heather said...

Wow, that does sound like a very heavy and emotional read!

Unknown said...

Whoa. Like, The Help but without the lighthearted parts? Not sure if it's my cuppa tea but it certainly sounds like an engaging story!

Wiz said...

This sounds really good. I am adding it to my list. Have you read Roots? It is really good but also a heavy read.

Victoria said...

going on my list!!

i think i have heard about this one before....

happy friday!

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Kyetra said...

I am so glad to see that someone has read this. It was one of my recommendations on Goodreads and is on my list.

Unknown said...

I just looked up Roots and I am def. adding it to my list of books to read! Thanks for the suggestion!

Shoshanah said...

I've been wanted to read this one! Glad to hear that it's worth picking up