Wench
Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Robynne Young
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars
3.67
· 24 ratings · 308 pages · Published: 16 Dec 2009
Tawawa House in many respects is like any other American resort before the Civil War. Situated in Ohio, this idyllic retreat's lofty white cottages provide the desired privacy which best suits the needs of the Southern white men who vacation there every summer with their black, enslaved mistresses. It's their open secret. Lizzie, Reenie, and Sweet are regulars at Tawawa House. They have become friends over the years as they share developments in their own lives. They don't bother too much with questions of freedom, though the resort is situated in free territory-but when truth-telling Mawu comes to the resort and starts talking of running away, things change.
To run is to leave behind everything these women value most-friends and families still down South-and for some it also means escaping from the emotional and psychological bonds that bind them to their masters. When a fire on the resort sets off a string of tragedies, the women of Tawawa House soon learn that triumph and dehumanization are inseparable and that love exists even in the most inhuman, brutal of circumstances-all while they are bearing witness to the end of an era.
An engaging, and wholly original novel, WENCH explores, with an unflinching eye, the moral complexities of slavery.
Tagged as:
- historical 3
- historical fiction 3
- slavery 3
- friendship 3
- civil war 3
- literary fiction 3
- drama 2
- grief 2
- realistic 2
- social commentary 2
- family 1
- war/big battles 1
- female mc 1
- protagonists of colour 1
- black mc 1
- military, war & conflict 1
- dark 1
- Add topics
- format - reader age
- audiobook 3
- book 1
- adult fiction 1
- content warnings
- abuse 2
- racism 2
- sexual assault 1