Wench (P.S.) - Softcover

Perkins-Valdez, Dolen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061706566 ISBN 13: 9780061706561

Publisher: Amistad Press, 2011

Synopsis

Pub Date: 2011-01-25 Pages: 320 Language: English Publisher: HarperCollins US Specially commissioned photography Comprehensive information on vegetables. fruit. herbs. and edible flowers Indispensable charts with flowering and harvesting details Useful hints and tips from the experts Clear. easy -to-follow. step-by-step instructions for key tasks

About this title

Review:

"Impressive. . . . There are countless stories to be told and to be read regarding the lingering emotional impact of slavery; and here, Perkins-Valdez has imagined a memorable one, her characters are framed within a well-crafted and expressive narrative."--The Network Journal

"A powerful story."--Sequim Gazette

"[A] fascinating and tragic story. . . . [A] compulsive read."--NPR.org, Book Club Pick

"[E]lectrifying. . . . [T]his remarkable novel skillfully dramatizes a dark chapter in American history. Writing with lyrical grace and a gift for plot development, Perkins-Valdez has produced an inspiring portrait of four brave women and the risks they take to change their lives."--BookPage

"Perkins-Valdez crawls under your skin and probes most gracefully in clear, concise lyric prose, ultimately asking the question that only extraordinary fiction can ask--what would you have done? A superb and outstanding achievement."--Jeffrey Lent, author of In the Fall and A Peculiar Grace

"A heartbreaker, full of understated tragedy and lyrical prose. . . . Perkins-Valdez has woven a devastatingly beautiful account of a cruel past."--People

"A striking debut intimately limns a Southern slave's complicated relationship with her master. . . . Compelling and unsentimental."--Kirkus Reviews

"Drawing on research about the resort that eventually became the first black college, Wilberforce University, the novel explores the complexities of relationships in slavery and the abiding comfort of women's friendships."--Booklist

"A finely wrought story that explores the emotional lives of four slave women caught in the web of the Peculiar Institution."--Lalita Tademy, author of Cane River and Red River

"This elegantly-structured novel sheds much-needed light on the racial intricacies of America's past."--Margaret Cezair-Thompson, author of The Pirate's Daughter (a #1 Indie Next Pick)

From the Back Cover:

wench \'wench\ n. from Middle English "wenchel,"1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.

Situated in Ohio, a free territory before the Civil War, Tawawa House isan idyllic retreat for Southern white men who vacation there every summerwith their enslaved black mistresses. It's their open secret. Lizzie, Reenie, and Sweet are regulars at the resort, building strong friendships over theyears. But when Mawu, as fearless as she is assured, comes along and starts talkingof running away, things change. To run is to leave everything behind, and forsome it also means escaping from the emotional and psychological bonds thatbind 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 areinseparable and that love exists even in the most inhuman, brutal of circumstances--all while they bear witness to the end of an era.

An engaging, page-turning, and wholly original novel, Wench explores, withan unflinching eye, the moral complexities of slavery.

About this edition

• Publisher: Amistad Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0061706566
• ISBN 13: 9780061706561
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320