The Kitchen House- Review

Title:  The Kitchen House
Author:  Kathleen Grissom
Publisher:  Touchstone

Goodreads Summary:

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.

My thoughts:

I couldn't put this book down, even though I pretty much cried my way through it.  The story was written from a unique perspective of an Irish indentured servant, Lavinia, who is raised by the Kitchen House slaves on a large plantation.  Her family consists of Belle, who is also the illegitimate daughter of the Captain; Mama Mae, Papa George, Uncle Jacob, Ben, the twins Franny and Beatie, and Sukey.  She had others in her kitchen house family, but these were the ones I felt were nearest and dearest to her heart.  Lavinia thinks and love like a child her whole life, always believing in the goodness of people and not seeing the bad, although she is frightened of her own shadow much of the time as well.  She is a gentle, naive girl, who grows into a gentle, naive woman, who has love for everyone.  She is unaware of the dark deeds that are perpetrated on her family, as they are hidden and kept from her.  Lavinia doesn't seem to really fit in totally anywhere, with her kitchen family or the master's family, separated from one life by color, and the other by class and situation in life, although she develops close relationships with them all, in her Lavinia way.  Her trusting, childlike demeanor leads her down a dark road that you want to stop her from heading down, but you know there is nothing you can do, and that it is all downhill from there.

Marshall is the Captain's son- I had the hardest time with Marshall, struggling with how I felt about him.  He is sympathetic yet a villain.  Events in his past have shaped him, and most of the time he is a terrible person, that you hate and abhorr.  But then there are glimmers where you believe he can be good, although these glimmers are short lived for in the next second he does something foul again.  

I really do not want to discuss this book too in detail, as I don't want to ruin it, so I am just going to say this book, although a tear jerker, was a book about love at its core.  The kitchen house family loves each other deeply and with great loyalty, and you will love them too.

Personal friends who might like this book- Jennifer H., mom

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a weekly blog meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where you list the books you read last week and the ones you hope to read this week.

I missed last week, I was on vacation "up north" as Michiganders say. And I didn't eve read much!

Read Last Week:

Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews:  I started this book on vacation at my family's summer rental.  My room was a bug jar with the light on, so I couldn't fit much reading in at night! I enjoyed this book, it was a fun summer read.

Honolulu by Alan Bernnert:  This author has never let me down, I have found both his books to be beautiful and moving.  I recommend them to everyone.

Heart of Evil by Heather Graham:  Second in the Krewe of Hunters Series.  I enjoyed this second book much better than the first.  And I was in love with the ghost story!

Currently Reading:

The Kitchen House by Katheleen Grissom:  I have read favorable reviews of this book and so far so good!

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman:  Alice Hoffman is always a favorite of mine, and this books seems no exception. So far I have cried, and laughed, because my one of my favorite historical figures, Johnny Appleseed is a character! And I am not even that far into the book yet, so I wonder what other surprises are in store.

Gave up on for the moment:

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik:  This is not a bad book, I was just not in the mood.  I plan on revisiting Gopnik's Paris this fall or winter.

Summer Rental - Review

Title:  Summer Rental
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Goodreads Summary:

Sometimes, when you need a change in your life, the tide just happens to pull you in the right direction….

Ellis, Julia, and Dorie. Best friends since Catholic grade school, they now find themselves, in their mid-thirties, at the crossroads of life and love. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is rudderless and now beginning to question the choices she's made over the past decade of her life. Julia—whose caustic wit covers up her wounds--has a man who loves her and is offering her the world, but she can't hide from how deeply insecure she feels about her looks, her brains, her life.  And Dorie has just been shockingly betrayed by the man she loved and trusted the most in the world…though this is just the tip of the iceberg of her problems and secrets. A month in North Carolina's Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Ty Bazemore is their landlord, though he's hanging on to the rambling old beach house by a thin thread. After an inauspicious first meeting with Ellis, the two find themselves disturbingly attracted to one another, even as Ty is about to lose everything he's ever cared about.

Maryn Shackleford is a stranger, and a woman on the run. Maryn needs just a few things in life: no questions, a good hiding place, and a new identity.  Ellis, Julia, and Dorie can provide what Maryn wants; can they also provide what she needs? 

Five people questioning everything they ever thought they knew about life. Five people on a journey that will uncover their secrets and point them on the path to forgiveness.   Five people who each need a sea change, and one month in a summer rental that might just give it to them.

My thoughts:

I actually read this book on vacation, while at my family's summer rental in northern Michigan.  I figured it was the perfect book for the occasion.  I was right! It is a great, lighthearted summer read.  

I liked all the characters, although Julia did get on my nerves a little- she seemed kind of abrupt and I wouldn't like if my friends talked to me so sharply.  She did mellow out and grow on me though.  Ellis was uptight, but that was ok.  I felt her character really grew and changed as the novel progressed, which I like.   Dorie was my favorite of the friends, I hope we get a book about her soon! I just liked her go with it demeanor and silliness, but she was practical and down to earth when she needed to be.  I am not usually about books about women friend groups, they are usually so saccharine my teeth rot out of my head just reading them or the friends are really jerks to each other and sleep with each other's husbands and stuff.  This book was a nice blend of good friends and reality- they admitted after a month they were starting to get on each others nerves. I felt too, that some of the language was realistic - I am the same age as the characters, and they talked to each other alot like I do with my friends.

One thing that bothered me and made me anxious the whole book, was the dog Biggie.  The character Maryn left her husband and her beloved dog, and worried that perhaps her husband would do something horrid to Biggie in retaliation.  This made me nervous the entire book!!! I didn't like Maryn for doing that, who leaves an animal they love behind if they think there is a chance they might be injured, and I was kind of irritated at Andrews for saying that and then never mentioning Biggie again.  At one point while Maryn is reminiscing, she thinks about how Biggie was her husband's real best friend, and I kind of relaxed a bit after that, but I was a little on edge the whole book.  

This was a really fun read - I usually always enjoy Andrew's books, and this was no exception.  Looking forward to the next read by her!

Heart of Evil - Review

Title:  Heart of Evil
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher:  Mira
Reviewed for netGalley

Goodreads Summary:

Emerging from the bayou like an apparition, Donegal Plantation is known for its unsurpassed dining, captivating atmosphere, haunting legends…and now a corpse swinging from the marble angel that marks its cemetery’s most majestic vault. A corpse discovered in nearly the same situation as that of Marshall Donegal, the patriarch killed in a skirmish just before the Civil War. Desperate for help traditional criminologists could never provide, plantation heiress Ashley Donegal turns to an elite team of paranormal investigators who blend hard forensics with rare – often inexplicable – intuition. Among them is Jake Mallory, a gifted New Orleans musician with talent that stretches beyond the realm of the physical, and a few dark ghosts of his own. The evil the team unveils has the power to shake the plantation to its very core. Jake and Ashley are forced to risk everything to unravel secrets that will not stay buried – even in death….


My thoughts:


I recently read Phantom Evil, and I was not overly impressed.  This is the sequel, and second in the Krewe of Hunters series.  I liked this one so much better!!!  The characters and the relationships did not seem as forced, there was not the sense of fake camaraderie that I felt in the first book.  The mystery itself was more interesting, and had me guessing until the end, and I usually figure mysteries out early on.  I loved the ghosts in this book too - poor Marshall! His story was just as intriguing as the central mystery in the novel, and really, I wouldn't mind reading a book about him and his poor wife.


This is the first book I have ever read digitally, and I am not sure how I liked it.  I used my husband's Nook and there were things I liked and disliked.  I liked:  the portability - it was alot easier to read in bed and on the couch than some of my books. I think that is all I liked.  I disliked:  It running out of power at inconvenient times, the sensory factors of a book like the rustling of pages or the crispness and smell of a new book, and the fact that I physically could not see how much I had read and how much I had left - for some reason this really bothered me!! I never would have guessed that would even come up.  It was a very odd feeling for me, I felt slightly adrift.  I also had a hard time actually reading it in this format - I am used to reading blogs and emails online, but nothing really long.  I found myself skimming, and having to go back and reread.    So, I am still not convinced about electronic reading devices.  Maybe it is just something I have to get used to.

Vixen - Review

Title: Vixen
Author- Jillian Larkin
Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary:

Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination.
 
Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?
 
Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . . 
 
Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . . 
 
From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes.


My thoughts:


Not too shabby, as young adult books go.  We read this for book club, and it sparked some interesting conversation.  


I had the hardest time remembering that the characters were only in high school.  I didn't disapprove of their behavior, especially for the time, I just kept picturing them in my mind as in their twenties.  So when one of them would say that they had school the next day, it would throw me off- and to be honest, those moments seemed kind of throw away to me, like Larkin just threw them in randomly to remind us that these were high schoolers, and that this was a young adult book.  


The characters were not all that particularly likable- I thought Gloria to be insipid and bland, and even her rebellion seemed perfectly cliched. Her romance with Jerome I think is just starting to be played out- will she be able to handle the prejudices that are directed at her? Is she strong enough?  I am not so sure she is.


 Clara also fell way too easily into the role of a perfect influence and paragon of purity - her year of rebellion quashed in an ultimatum delivered by her aunt, Gloria's mom. The character Lorraine was my favorite-  I called her a hot mess, and she really was.  But this made her so much more interesting than the others.  She had depth that I felt the others lacked, even Clara, despite Clara's sordid past.  I really felt sorry for her too, being so in love with Marcus, and Gloria and Marcus knowing and silently mocking her.  Too cruel.  She really just wanted someone to care about her - she didn't seem to be first in anyone's life, not even her parents.


Although I was not totally in love with this book, I am a fan of this era, and I am curious to know what happens in the sequel, with Lorraine and Sebastian.  Ranked with my recent YA reads, I would put this below Libba Bray and the Hunger Games, but above Magnolia League and Twilight.  

Honolulu- Review

Title:  Honolulu
Author:  Alan Brennert
Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Goodreads Summary:

As a young Korean woman at the onset of 20th century, Regret knows that there is only one possible avenue to the education she seeks. She must become a mail-order bride. She travels to Hawaii to meet the man she has agreed to marry, but it becomes apparent all too quickly that he is not the genteel, prosperous young man she imagined he would be. Instead, she finds herself yoked to an impoverished plantation worker addicted to alcohol and gambling. Her painful situation forces her to fend for herself and form beneficial alliances with other "picture brides." This powerful historical novel draws you into the plight of a woman swimming in the uncertainty of a new culture.


My thoughts:


I loved this book- maybe not as much as Moloka'i, but I still am completely enamored by the worlds that Brennert creates.  What a brave woman Regret is- throughout the book, she is a force to be reckoned with, shedding like layers the ideals of her ancestors in order to live the life and be the woman she desires.  I can't imagine how frightening it would be to leave my country, language, family, and way of life behind to marry a man I had only met through a photo as a "picture bride"- what courage you must have, and what determination.  She had some serious guts, sparked initially by Regret's wish to learn and read.  I love that she chose a new name for herself, to reflect her new life- Jin, meaning Gem.  


I was surprised by the amount of racism and prejudice that existed in Hawaii at the time in this book - I never thought about, or really had anything bring this particular area and time frame (both Hawaii and Korea) into my thoughts.  The problems at the time between the Koreans and Japanese, or between the native Hawaiian people and those of the newcomers to the islands - both lands invaded by another.  I know that my husband's grandmother, a native Hawaiian, suffered at the hands of racism when she moved away from the islands in the 1960s to the southern United States, as did my mother-in-law and her siblings.  Apparently I guess I thought the times between the missionaries trying to change the Hawaiian people and the 60s was a time of equality and peace.  How naive and uninformed I feel.  


This book was beautiful in every way- I loved the descriptions of the characters lives, their courage, their love and loyalty for their friends and family, the part with May and W. Somerset Maugham.  Regret, such a sad and tragic name, made a wonderful life for herself, and made peace with her family at the end.  I almost wish this book wouldn't have ended!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's Monday, What Are You Reading is a weekly blog meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where you list the books you read last week and the ones you hope to read this week.

Read Last Week:

  

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich:  Last week was super busy for me, and this book was perfect for the amount of time I had to read.  It was like revisiting your old wacky friend, finding she is up to the same old tricks and same old problems, but still enjoying her stories.

Shem Creek by Dorothea Benton Frank:  I didn't fall in love with this book the way I wanted to.  I wanted more than I was given.  I still intend to read more of this author, although I didn't enjoy this as much as I did Pawleys Island.

Currently Reading:

Honolulu by Alan Brennert:  I started this book last week, but didn't have the time I wanted to spend on it, so I put it aside until this week.  I started reading it in earnest yesterday, and I didn't want to stop!  So far so good.

Heart of Evil by Heather Graham:  This is a netGalley book for me- I meant to read it sooner, but I am an not eReader by nature.  I had to have my husband put this on his nook for me. It is a definitely a different experience!  This is the second in the Krewe of Hunters series.

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik:   I am looking forward to this one!