The Kitchen House {my own personal book club}

I love stories from The South.
This southern tale starts in 1791 pulls you in on the first two pages.

Book:
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

About:
Orphaned during her passage from Ireland, young, white Lavinia arrives on the steps of the kitchen house and is placed, as an indentured servant, under the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate slave daughter. Lavinia learns to cook, clean, and serve food, while guided by the quiet strength and love of her new family.
In time, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, caring for the master’s opium-addicted wife and befriending his dangerous yet protective son. She attempts to straddle the worlds of the kitchen and big house, but her skin color will forever set her apart from Belle and the other slaves.

To Read or Not to Read:
Yes.

I love stories from The South.
This southern tale starts in 1791 pulls you in on the first two pages.

After reading The Kitchen House I felt relief for some of the characters I loved. There are lots of tragedies and miscommunications. Oh hey, literature! I also felt hopeful. But there was also a deep sadness for what happened to African Americans during the pre-Civil War time period. As well as how far we still have to go for equality.

My Thoughts:

• The main character’s name is Lavinia. And because I rarely read unique names correctly, I was saying “Latvia” (as in the country) in my head. Good luck with that!
• Grissom describes some of the most yummy food ever for a Christmas feast. p36 And now that I’m cooking and all, I’m co curious about how people cooked during that era.
• Sometimes you just want to shake the characters, because if they just tell that “one thing” then things will end up so much happier. I often wonder how that plays out in real life. Are there things that would be so much better if we just communicated more? I think the answer is yes.
• Page 30: “This world is not the only home. This world is for practice to get things right.” Love that.
• There is major contrast between the lifestyles of the slaves who work in the “big house” and the slaves who work in the fields. This theme in the book fascinated me.
• The slaves in the big house a very protective of Marshall, even to point of a well deserved murder, and Marshall is so cruel to them. I wondered why throughout the book.

There is so much more… but I can’t ruin everything!

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Kara Noel Lawson

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