My book club read a historical fiction piece for May, and once again it made me SO thankful that I live in the 21st century!
The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom, tells the unusual story of Lavinia, a young girl from Ireland who sets out for America with her parents in the late 1700s. Unfortunately, by the time her voyage has finished, Lavinia finds herself orphaned and very ill.
The captain from the ship brings her to his tobacco plantation in Virginia where she begins her life as an indentured servant. Since Lavinia is white, the captain places her in the kitchen house, one of the highest posts in the cruel slave hierarchy. The story begins with Lavinia trying to make sense of her new life.
This book made me think about the lines that society draws, and how fluid or firm those lines can be. We know that rigid laws existed in the 18thcentury: blacks worked as slaves for whites and were considered property, not people. Yet, The Kitchen House also explores how the lines could blur. Black slave women nursed white babies when the mother could not or would not. White men had long relationships, not always consensual, with black women. White women loved slave babies as their own.
So I can’t blame Lavinia when she has trouble seeing, or adhering to, the lines established in her culture. She grows to love the black family she lives with, and when she earns her freedom, marries, and returns to the plantation as a mistress, she wants to maintain the familial relationship. However, society, especially her husband, tells her she can’t. Ironically, the very same white man who forbids Lavinia from calling a beloved slave “Mama” also fathers several children with black slave on his property.
It doesn’t make sense.
Of course it doesn’t, because prejudice is inherently illogical. (prejudice comes from the Latin prae + judicium, meaning previous judgment) Judgment made before consideration all of the facts cannot be fair.
The excellent novel The Help also explores the issue of irrational lines in the society of 1960s Alabama. In The Help, some white women think that black housekeepers are inherently “dirty” and need to use a different bathroom from the family they serve. Yet those same housekeepers prepare all of the family’s food and serve as the primary caretakers of the children. How can the white women justify their beliefs?
The lead character in The Help dares to question the lines that she sees. In The Kitchen House, Lavinia has a harder time challenging the rules she doesn’t understand, but eventually, after enduring much tragedy, she and the other characters find their way to peace.
Can you recommend some historical fiction that explores this issue of societal lines? Do you see illogical lines that still exist in our society today? Click on the comments link below; I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Julia
Wow, I want to read this! Hadn’t heard of it before. Thanks for highlighting it!
~Debbie
A book club near us read it; Grissom is a “Virginia author”, so maybe it’s gotten more attention down here. Glad you enjoyed.
I’ve also read both of those novels, and Lavinia really broke my heart. I couldn’t believe that she would fool herself into marrying that man, and I kept waiting for her to see the truth of who she should be with–ah, heartbreaking stuff!!
The HELP I read after seeing the film, and I was strangely surprised at HOW MUCH it was like the movie. I kept waiting for there to be more layers, more depth . . . it was a good story, and heartfelt, but lacked some of the intensity and fear I was expecting.
Both really good reads. Nice review! I’d recommend Wideacre and the two sequels, if you like reading even deeper historical fiction (these are set in Victorian England). Also, City of Dreams can’t be beat–follows multiple generations through the growth of NYC from clapboard, wood buildings to the first sky scrapers.
Melanie, thanks for commenting on both books! Yes, sometimes I wanted to shake some sense into Lavinia! She could be very naive. Would there be another “voice” you’d like to hear from in the book? I wanted to hear things from Mama’s point of view.
I wonder if The Help lacked the depth you are looking for because it had so many different points of view? Perhaps with one POV there would have been more of the layers that you mentioned.
I appreciate the recommendations. Both them sound interesting, especially City of Dreams, and I’ve been looking for more good historical fiction.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!