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The Kitchen House: A Novel by Kathleen…
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The Kitchen House: A Novel (original 2010; edition 2010)

by Kathleen Grissom (Author)

Series: The Kitchen House (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
3,8202433,198 (3.96)205
Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML:

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.

Orphaned while onboard a ship from Ireland to America, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles an opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

.
… (more)
Member:MHanover10
Title:The Kitchen House: A Novel
Authors:Kathleen Grissom (Author)
Info:Touchstone (2010), Edition: 1st, 368 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
Rating:
Tags:to-read

Work Information

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (2010)

  1. 60
    The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Blogletter)
    Blogletter: Zowel Het Keukenhuis door Kathleen Grissom als Een keukenmeidenroman door Kathryn Stocket gaan over slavernij in Amerika.
  2. 40
    The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (Anonymous user, vancouverdeb)
    Anonymous user: Both The Kitchen House and the Book of Negroes are about Black Slavery in the South. They are different, but provide an eye opening look at Black Slavery.
  3. 31
    The Color Purple by Alice Walker (varwenea)
  4. 10
    Oonagh by Mary Tilberg (Iudita)
    Iudita: Historical fiction about indentured servants.
  5. 10
    The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (shearon)
  6. 00
    Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim (susiesharp)
    susiesharp: this is also a tale of the south and slavery but this one is not as depressing as The Kitchen House but has a similar feel.
  7. 00
    Cane River by Lalita Tademy (dara85)
  8. 00
    Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball (dara85)
  9. 11
    Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (varwenea)
  10. 01
    The Long Song by Andrea Levy (vancouverdeb)
    vancouverdeb: Similar themes: black slaves, a young woman who works within the "White Master's" Plantation house.Slavery,Freedom from slavery; both wonderfully written. Divided loyalities, a fiesty female slave.
  11. 01
    The Ways of White Folks: Stories by Langston Hughes (varwenea)
  12. 01
    Year the Colored Sisters Came to Town by Jacqueline Guidry (varwenea)
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» See also 205 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 243 (next | show all)
I flew through this story of a young Irish orphan in the 1700s working in the kitchen house of a southern plantation.

I can't say there is anything especially new or different about this tale of slaves other than our main character Lavinia who can move between black and white life but the characters came to life for me and I loved being with them. ( )
  hmonkeyreads | Jan 25, 2024 |
This is an AWESOME book - I've e mailed back and forth with this author and someone bought the rights to this for a movie, which would be awesome!
Even better than 'The Help', it is depressing, but probably very realistic for the times after the Civil War. ( )
  JillHannah | Nov 20, 2023 |
Great read. Harsh story. ( )
  JennyPocknall | Oct 19, 2023 |
What a great read! But, why hasn't this been turned into a movie yet? I found this book at our local Goodwill for $2.99. I'll be handing it off to my soon to be 13 year old granddaughter to read next. I only found the ending felt a little too rushed.

The story takes place in late 18th century southern Virginia on a tobacco growing plantation called Tall Oaks. The author alternates between two storytellers, Belle, the secret daughter of her master, Captain James Pyke, and Lavinia, a 6 year old migrant, orphaned girl from Ireland. Her parents ended up dying on Captain Pykes ship on their way to America. He sold Lavinia's brothers and took in Lavinia as an indentured slave as payment. Although, he was a very fair master, this story shows just how unpredictable life of slavery really was and how it could turn on a dime.

What's interesting, is this author claims to be able to write spiritually, as if someone is leading her to write their story. As she and her husband were in the middle of renovating an old historic tavern in Virginia, she suddenly sat and wrote out the Prologue to this book in one sitting, as if someone was dictating to her. This became the basis of the story. ( )
  MissysBookshelf | Aug 27, 2023 |
so sad, yet moving. Unreal in the sense that things that happened then out of fear are so removed from today. They took so much as "the way it was" when a reader today wants to scream "Nooooo" as you read things unfolding. ( )
  Asauer72 | Jul 3, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 243 (next | show all)
Though there are several compelling insights in The Kitchen House, it’s nevertheless a formulaic story. There are graphic shocks, but no surprises.
added by lkernagh | editQuill & Quire, Sara Forsyth (Mar 1, 2010)
 

» Add other authors (8 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Kathleen Grissomprimary authorall editionscalculated
Cassidy, OrlaghNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Turpin, BahniNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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For my beloved parents, Ted and Catherine Doepker, and for my dear mentor, Eleanor Drewry Dolan
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[Prologue] There was a strong smell of smoke, and new fear fueled me.
In that spring of 1791 I did not understand that the trauma of loss had taken my memory.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML:

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.

Orphaned while onboard a ship from Ireland to America, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles an opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

.

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Book description
After seven-year-old Lavinia is orphaned on the journey from Ireland to the United States, she begins work in the kitchen house of a tobacco plantation and bonds with the slaves who become her adopted family, but when Lavinia is accepted into the big house, her loyalties are challenged.
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