After spending a semester studying slavery, and particularly slave insurrections this little gem popped up on my LibraryThing recommendations. The beauty of this book is the uncommon point of view from which it is written - that of the white mistress of the plantation. While most modern authors would have chosen to present this story from the slave's perspective, Martin bucks the trend. What results is a n excellent representation of a woman who is a product of her environment. A very interesting read. ( )

This little 193 page book packs quite a punch. The narrator is Manon Gaudet, the bitter and selfish mistress of a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana, and wife to a sadistic and domineering husband whom she detests. Manon is every bit as much his "property" as the slaves are, and her powerlessness is not much different than theirs. Property won the Orange Prize in 2003, and it explores the evils of slavery and unlimited power over others, and the self-distructive effect it has on the society that condones and participates in it. I can't really say that I liked this book, it's too powerful and disturbing to like. But I am glad I read it. ( )

Edna Pontellier ('The Awakening') meets Uncle Tom's Cabin with a touch of Beloved. This would be an okay text for an undergrad course on images of women in literature; it incisively raises the issue of one (white) woman's unthinking complicity in the enslavement of an(black)other. ( )

Incisive short novel form the p-o-v of a plantation owner's wife in pre-Emancipation Louisiana. Manon Gaudet is royally pissed off because her husband turned out to be a dull, money-squandering brute with a taste for sadism. He's forced a sexual relationship on Sarah, a beautiful house 'servant,' as Manon calls her. Despite the fact that he is as cruel, or crueler, to Sarah than he is to his wife, Manon bemoans her loneliness and isolation without ever considering that Sarah and she might be natural allies. In fact, she goes out of her way to ensure that Sarah shares her misery. I haven't run into a protagonist/narrator this unlikable since Humbert Humbert.
Why: it was on my mother-in-law's bookshelf and promised to provide a story to get lost in.
Author: I've read one other book by Martin, something about a villa in Italy, which I liked well enough, but did not think I'd read her again. I was quite impressed with Property. ( )

A powerful book that is completely readable despite the fact that it deals with so many heavy issues. Valerie Martin's approach is subtle and understated but revelatory. Her characters always reveal more to the reader than they understand themselves -- certainly more than they intend to reveal. (Compare the narrator here (Manon) and Mary Reilly from the author's other historical novel.) As a result, there's always a touch of ambiguity. The reader is left to contemplate the issues without being told what to think by the author. ( )

Dismal truths. Bleak indeed. Powerful. ( )

I can't say that I enjoyed reading this book, for enjoyment at what I was reading was never an issue. I did, however, respect the point that Ms. Martin wrote about. I'm glad that I read the book and I found it very well written but it was uncomfortable for me at the same time. Valerie Martin delves into what property really is and who owns exactly what. Manon Gaudet does in fact own Sarah, her house slave, but as anyone who reads this can quickly see, Manon is also a piece of property in her house, "owned" by her husband.

Property by Valerie Martin is neither an easy book to review nor is it an easy book to read. The writing itself is wonderful, crisp and clean. It is the story itself that is so hard to read. Taking place in Louisiana in 1828, the description of the treatment of slaves on a plantation is almost painful to read. Fortunately while I was reading this book, our first African American president took office. This event juxtaposed with the reading of Property made the presidential inauguration seem even more special. The horrendous treatment of slaves described in this book makes the events of January 20, 2009, seem miraculous—and it only took us 180 years!

Telling the story is Manon Gaudet, wife of a slave owner. At the outset of the story Manon is, to my mind, one of the least sympathetic characters I’ve read about in a long time. She is completely self-absorbed, failing to see her husband’s slaves as human beings, only as property. She is very unhappy in her marriage and detests her husband, blaming everything wrong in her life on her husband and her marriage. Even when events change in her life, she still blames her marriage for her misery.

Property is extremely well written. Ms. Martin uses sparse language, but yet makes her point clear and paints pictures that are easy to see and understand. While not easy to read because of the subject matter, I feel it is a story that needs to be told. Valerie Martin’s book makes sure that we will not gloss over the suffering and misery of millions of Americans. ( )

This book screams for attention from the opening scene. The irony of the slaveowner being enslaved is evident from the first pages. Women in the early 1800's were dependent on men, and when one is married to somebody as detestable as Mr. Gaudet, life can be joyless. Furthermore, to have your husband's "wild child" by your personal slave constantly in your presence, must have been a constant source of shame and pain.

Martin's bitter tone portrays Manon as a pragmatist who has to endure an unendurable situation. Her loathing is evident in the repeated references to "my husband" rather than referring to him by name, and her blank looks speak volumes.

This book raises an interesting question: Shouldn't one's own misery awaken a compassion for misery in others? Apparently not...the only real connection between Manon and her slave Sarah is their mutual hatred for the man who dominates them.

I will continue to read about the injustice of slavery to remind me that while our not-so-distant past contains such a reprehensible heritage, we have advanced to the point where we now have our first black President. And, no matter what your politics, this is a good thing. ( )

Valerie Martin's Property takes the reader into the head of Manon, a wealthy white woman living near New Orleans in the late 1820s. Manon is married to a slave holding planter that she despises because of his open relationship with a household slave, Sarah, and his especially brutal treatment of his field slaves. As a series of tragedies befall Manon, the reader accompanies Manon as she assesses her place in the world and the value of her life. By the end, the reader and Manon are left contemplating the "property" of the title--is it simply slaves like Sarah, or in a way is at all women, who are defined as property in this regimented and cruel society.

Property is a captivating read, but it is also a depressing look at a dark time in American history. There are no heroes in this story--everyone is guilty in this society built on using other human beings--but the narrative gives you an honest look at the emotional strain on a woman during this period. Martin does an excellent job of not imposing 21st century sentiments on Manon, who I believe is portrayed with stunning realism. Rarely do you find historical fiction from a woman's perspective that is this rich and well written. This book will make you think, and like Manon, you may not come to a happy conclusion. ( )

Set in the 1830s, Property is the story of Manon, the wife of a Louisiana sugar cane plantation owner. Manon despises her boorish husband and is justifiably resentful of his affair with her housemaid Sarah, which has produced two children. She is disturbed by his cruel brutality towards his slaves. And yet, she cannot escape values shaped during her own childhood in a slaveowning family. She holds her own father in high regard for having been a more compassionate owner, but fails to see the injustice of humans as property.

Manon's days of idle leisure are interrupted both by her mother's illness and a slave revolt, Sarah's escape, and the subsequent effort to track her down and return her to Manon. These events provide some movement and force to the plot. The novel provides an unusual perspective -- that of a woman slaveowner -- and it definitely held my interest. However, in presenting Manon's story, the author appeared to maintain a rather neutral position on slavery. It seemed I was supposed to side with Manon in wishing for Sarah's return, when I wanted nothing more than for Sarah to find freedom. I believe this was an accurate portrayal of a certain type of individual during that time period, but I was unable to identify with her, which dampened my enthusiasm for this novel. ( )

I just finished this book. It is primarily about the 'relationship' between slave holders and slaves. I kept comparing this to 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' which I feel deals with the morality of slavery. The main character in Property, does not feel there is anything wrong with owning another person. To her, the slaves are not people, they are property, at the same time, she is the 'property' of her husband. Everything that is hers, is his to do with however he wants, she has no say in it. I have mixed opinions about the ending, and I can't really say I liked this book, but it does make you think. ( )

Property is very interesting and a little disturbing. You realize right away that this point of view is offensive to any one of moral character, but probably spot on for the feelings of the era. Page after page you feel an indignation at the audacity of the white point of view and yet you find your self realizing that white women of the day were almost as much slaves to this society run by the white man,as their black "property". Great book. ( )

Short, well written, engaging story of a slave holding family in the South before the Civil War. Clever organizational detail is that the story is told through the eyes of a white woman with a philandering husband, who is in many ways as much a slave as the servants she supervises. The main character is also complicated by the fact that she is both victim and victimizer. I thought it was a fabulous book for getting the reader thinking about how corrosive the institution of slavery was on the individual family level. The book picks up added suspense because of the impending threat of uprising. ( )

“And how did he earn your enmity?”

“Well, let me think,” I said. “Would the fact that the servant I brought to the marriage has borne him a son, and that this creature is allowed to run loose in the house like a wild animal, would that be, in your view, sufficient cause for a wife to despise her husband?”

He shrugged. “Mrs. Gaudet, there are many such cases. This cannot be unknown to you.”

“That is precisely my grievance,” I explained. “That it is common.”

(page 38)

What is property? Is it a tangible thing you own? Or could it be something else – a spirit, a soul, a sense of freedom? In her Orange Prize-winning novel, Property, Valerie Martin explored the essence of property, ownership and freedom, using slavery and antebellum marriage to examine these themes.

Manon Gaudet is a young wife in a loveless marriage to a bankrupt, cruel planter in 1828 Louisiana. As a wedding gift, Manon’s aunt gave her a young slave, Sarah, to accompany Manon to her new plantation home. Because of conventional marriage customs and rights of slavery, both women, in essence, become property to the same man. Sarah soon bore a son to Manon’s husband while Manon never reproduced. As time progressed, Manon’s hatred for her husband only equaled her disdain for her slave. She secretly wished for her husband’s death to free her from this entrapment.

Several things struck me as compelling in this book. First, Martin portrayed a historic look into the slave-holding South. It was not a time of wine and roses; times were harsh, the slavery system was immoral, and white and black Southerners lived in fear of each other. Each page of Property stayed true to these details.

Secondly, the relationship between Manon and Sarah was far from a sisterly one. While they were bound together by the same problem – ownership by the same man – they did not seek comfort from each other against their common plight. Furthermore, they did not see each other as rivals because they did not yearn for the man’s attention. Instead, they hated each other – perhaps because each was a reminder of the life in which each woman was forced to live.

Intelligent, engaging, historical and rivoting - Property kept me at the edge of my seat, and I completed this book in two sittings. Admittedly, if you put a hoop skirt on the main character, it usually captures my attention. However, this book provided so much more than hoop skirts – it was a gritty story about the power and destruction of when one human tries to control another. This is a must-read for readers who enjoy antebellum Southern fiction, women’s studies and stories about slavery. I will certainly be looking for more books by this gifted storyteller. ( )

Wonderful book; very disturbing on a number of levels. I enjoyed it very much. ( )

A stunning novel that shows how victims become victimisers, and that wives can be slaves too - or at least the property of their husbands.
Told through the eyes of Manon, wife of a plantation owner stuck in a loveless marriage and set against a background of slave rebellions in America's deep south of the early 1800s, it is a bloody and dramatic tale with a very original look at some of the big issues involved. ( )

The book was okay. An easy read. Although one thing kept me thinking. When she was considered "Property" did she treat Sara that same was in spite? I belive she did. There was a line she said to another character reguarding Sara's son Walter...saying that if she "had to live with him..she did Sara". I beleive she felt that way about everything, and in some way envied her. ( )

great read if you like civil war, womens stories ( )

A novel of great insight which highlights how slavery dehumanises not only the slave but also the owner. ( )

This book made me think of property in a whole new light. ( )