The Kitchen House: A Novel
Where to buy The Kitchen House: A Novel books online?
- ISBN13: 9781439153666
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Product Description
This stunning debut novel set in the antebellum South, is a tragic tale of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family tree, where like and loyalty prevail.
Orphaned while onboard a ship from Ireland, seven-year-ancient 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 deeply bonds with her adopted family tree, though she is set apart from them by her white skin. Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the huge house and she finds herself worryingly straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, treacherous truths are laid bare, and lives are place at risk.Amazon.com Review
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 tree.
Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-ancient 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 tree, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.
Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the huge house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself worryingly straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, treacherous truths are laid bare, and lives are place at risk.
The Kitchen House is a tragic tale of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family tree, where like and loyalty prevail.
Explore the reading group guide for The Kitchen House.
A Conversation with Leader Kathleen Grissom
Q: What information surprised you while doing research on white indentured servants?
A: When I first started my research I was astonished to learn the fantastic numbers of Irish that were brought over as indentured servants. Then, when I saw advertisements for run off Irish indentured servants, I realized that some of them, too, must have suffered under intolerable conditions.
Q: Why did you chose not to go into detail about some of the most dramatic plot points in the novel, for example, the death of Waters or the abuse of young Marshall?
A: For the most part, Lavinia and Belle dictated the tale to me. From the beginning, it became reasonably clear that if I tried to embroider or change their tale, their narration would stop. When I withdrew, the tale would continue. Their voices were reasonably distinct. Belle, who permanently felt grounded to me, certainly did not hold back with description, particularly of the rape. Lavinia, on the additional hand, felt less stable, less able to cope; and at times it felt as though she was scarcely able to tell her horror.
Q: It is appealing that your novel has two narrators–Lavinia and Belle. Do you have any plans to continue the tale into the next generation–perhaps from the perspectives of Jaime and Elly?
A: In 1830, Jamie is a well-respected ornithologist in Philadelphia and Sukey is enslaved by the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. Theirs are the two voices I hear. In time I will know if I am meant to tell their tale. Presently I am writing Crow Mary, another work of past fiction. A few years ago I was visiting Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan. As I listened to an interpreter tell of Mary, who, in 1872, at the age of sixteen, was traded in marriage to a well-known fur trader, a familiar deep chill went thorough me. I knew then that I would return to write about this Crow woman. Some of her complex life is documented, and what fascinates me are her acts of bravery, equal, in my estimation, to persons of Mama Mae.
Q: This is your first novel after diverse careers in retail, agriculture, and the arts. How have each of these experiences contributed to your writing style?
A: I don’t know that any endeavor specifically contributed to my writing style, but I do know that every phase of my life helped prepare me to write this book.
Q: The dialogue of the slaves in this novel is very believable. It must have been a hard thing to achieve. How did you go about making authentic voices from two hundred years ago?
A: At the very beginning of my research I read two books of slave narratives: Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember and Weevils in the Wheat: Interviews with Virginia Ex-Slaves. Soon after, the voices from The Kitchen House started to come to me. My original draft included such heavy dialect that it made the tale very hard to read. In time I modified the style so the tale could be more easily read.
Q: You said you wrote the prologue in one sitting after being inspired by a map you establish while renovating an ancient plantation tavern. Since this is your first novel, do you reflect you were “guided” by residents of the past?
A: Not only do I feel I was guided but also that I was gifted with their trust. But, I am not alone in this. In Alice Walker’s book The Color Purple, she writes: “I thank everybody in this book for coming. A.W., leader and medium.” Unless I misread that, I’d say, in this experience, I’m in excellent company.
Q: Your book has been described as “Gone with the Wind turned upside down.” Are you a fan of Margaret Mitchell’s novel? Which writers have inspired you through the years?
A: I have only recently read Gone with the Wind. Although I did delight in it, a few of the writers that have truly inspired me are Robert Morgan, Alice Randall, Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, Edward P. Jones, Nuala O’Faolain, Alexandra Fuller, Susan Howatch, Rick Bragg, Breena Clarke, Beryl Markham, Alice Walker, Joan Didion . . . this list could go on forever. I like to read.
Q: There are many characters in this novel. How did you go about choosing their names?
A: They were all taken from different lists of slaves that I establish in my research.
Q: What advice do you have for writers effective on their first novels?
A: If you feel called to write a book, consider it a gift. Look around you. What help is the universe offering you as support? I was agreed an incredible mentor, a poet, Eleanor Drewry Dolan, who taught me the importance of every word. To my utter amazement, there were times she establish it necessary to consult three dictionaries to evaluate one word! Take the time you need to learn the craft. Then sit down and write. When you hand over your concluded manuscript to a trusted reader, keep an open mind. Edit, edit, and edit again. And, of course, never give up! Q: At times in the novel, you can nearly smell the hearty foods being prepared by Mama and others. In your research, did you find any point notes or recipes from kitchen houses that you can share with your readers?
A: In 1737, William Byrd, founder of Richmond, wrote of the many types of fruits and vegetables available in Virginia. Watermelons, pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, artichokes, asparagus, green beans, and cauliflower were all being cultivated. I learned that many of these were preserved by pickling. For persons interested in how this was done and for recipes from that time, an brilliant resource is Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery and Booke of Sweetmeats, transcribed by Karen Hess.
While in Williamsburg, I watched re enactors heat beef over a spit in a kitchen fireplace. Tiny potatoes in a pan beneath the meat were browning in the drippings, and I cannot tell you how I longed for a taste. That was my inspiration for the Christmas meal. For basics, such as the chicken soup, I built a recipe around what I knew would have been available for use in the kitchen house at that time.
Whenever Belle baked a molasses cake, I craved a taste. I did try several ancient recipes that I establish, but I was unsatisfied with the results. So, using the ancient recipes as a baseline, my daughter, Erin, and I made our own version of a simple yet moist and tasty molasses cake. I am pleased to share it with the readers:
Simple Molasses Cake
½ cup butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 cup molasses
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 dashes ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inchsquare baking pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. In a separate bowl, combine the milk and the molasses. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Add each of these alternately to the butter mixture, beating well between additions. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Buy Cheap The Kitchen House: A Novel Online
Related posts:
I have to admit I did not get very far in this book, maybe a third in. The reason for that is that there are lots of tale lines to follow, and although they each give a unique view of what happened it made for hard reading. I had to stop.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
This novel is a well written look at race relations in the South during the slavery period. It held my attention from the beginning. But I was disappointed by the ending thus I only gave it three stars. I know that this is listed as a novel and not a romance; but I prefer that the books I read give me some sense of hope of happiness for the main characters. When this novel finished I was not left with a feeling of a pleased future for Lavinia. What a bring shame on. She was such an appealing main character. I would have loved an ending that gave her a bit of happiness and right like. Her entire life as written was hard and filled with pain. The ending only offered her years of hard work and loneliness. I was let down when I finished.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
I’m nuts about past fiction novels from any period and anywhere in the world, so if you clarify yourself in that way, you’ll delight in this book.
It’s about Lavinia, a small girl from Ireland who wakes up one day and on that same day, finds herself living with a family tree she doesn’t know and to top it off, they are black….something she has never seen before. She doesn’t know why she’s there, where her family tree is or even what her own name is. She slowly warms to her new family tree, soon finding herself with a new Mama and Papa but constantly confused as to why, even though she is a servant, she is treated differently because of her pale skin and red hair. As time goes by, she slowly learns why, but never really understands.
This is a lovely book about a young child growing into adulthood in the late 1700’s in the Ancient South. It’s a very different point of view about slavery with warm, lovable characters.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
A fantastic tale that I didn’t want to end. I so loved Lavinia’s tale even though I would have liked she and Will to be together. I wish the leader would have expanded upon the tale of Marshall and the tutor. I marvel how Belle and Marshall would have dealt with each additional had her parentage come out.
Really excellent tale
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
I could not place this book down. It is gripping from the very beginning. It is very moving but not dark. I look forwards to more from this leader.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5