I read The Help by Kathryne Stockett not too long ago and LOVED IT. If you haven't discovered this southern gem, you must read it. It is a historical fiction set in Jackson, MS during the 1960s told by several characters, three black maids and one white woman from a local rich family. The white woman meets in secret to interview the maids about life and working for their white employers. The stories mix humor, love, loss, tragedy, and disbelief at the various treatments and experiences. It took the author over 20 years to perfect and publish it based on real interviews and her personal life growing up in MS in those times.
Roses by Leila Meacham, is a Texas Gone With The Wind. A divine 600 page saga interweaving three families across several generations in a small town. The actions of the original town founders affect all of those around them and those that come after them for several generations until one has enough courage to set things right and lift a curse plaguing the land and it's owners. Starting with the founding in the late 1800s, it ends in the mid 1980s. Heart wrenching tragedy upon tragedy is soothed by miracles and everlasting love between several characters. The book is told in parts by three of the biggest characters. It is by far one of the best books I have ever read, even better than The Help.
Next, I plan to read Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Another historical fiction spanning several decades with multiple main characters telling their own stories. The stories are told by female slaves taken away from the South each summer by their masters/lovers to a resort in Ohio built specifically to accommodate these unusual relationships. Ohio is at the time a Free State. Each of the women make their own decision whether to run away for their freedom, or stay with the white men/owners for their families and/or forbidden love. It should be another heart breaker.
No comments:
Post a Comment