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Book Review of The Kitchen House

The Kitchen House
PamelaH avatar reviewed on + 90 more book reviews


Lavinia, an orphaned child from Ireland, is taken home by the captain of a ship to his plantation in Virginia where she becomes an indentured servant living with his slaves. She is cared for as if she is one of theirs, taught to do what "good slaves" do in the Kitchen House. Eventually though, she is moved into the Big House and taught by the captain's emotionally unstable wife to be a proper young lady. Because she was brought up lovingly by the slaves, she never stops loving them and treating them as her equal even though she ends up loving the captain, his wife, and their family. This is a sad story, showing the best and the worse in people. I was really impressed by Grissom's first novel. I loved it and became truly attached to the characters in this story.