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There are currently 23 member reviews
for The House Girl
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Judi S. (Boyes Hot Springs, CA)
The House Girl
"To eat a meal when hunger struck her, to smile without thinking, to wear a dress that fit her well, to place upon the wall a picture she had made, to love a person of her choosing." These are the simple yet unattainable desires of Josephine the "house girl" to Lu Anne Bell, aspiring artist and mistress of a Virginia tobacco farm.
This story had my attention captured from page two to the final sentence.
Readers who enjoyed The Help or Salvage The Bones will find two new heroines to love in The House Girl.
I was originally skeptical about how the story could honestly address the pros/cons of reparations without sounding preachy or dismissive, but Conklin managed to give the issue the respect it deserved, without losing the character focused flavor of the book.
Like all good books (in my opinion) The House Girl gives us characters we care deeply about, and asks us to think about some tough issues.
This wonderful book will stay in your heart and mind long after you have finished the last page.
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Donna N. (sherwood, or)
Well-done
If you like the Civil War era with an interwoven mystery you will like this book. The author does a good job of moving from modern day to 1850's with parallel stories of a slave girl and a young lawyer. The common threads are the art world and situations that require similiar choices to our circumstances in life. The time of the Underground Railroad is a powerful time where each individual had to look at the slavery issue and make some difficult decisions. I didn't feel the modern day issues with Lina's mother was developed as well as it could of been, but the part with Josephine was very well done. It is a book that I think about after reading and want to share it..so that is my best recommendation.
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Kathryn K. (Oceanside, CA)
Loved The House Girl!
The novel, The House Child by Tara Conklin, blends two compelling stories about a house slave and a young attorney in the early stages of her career: one from the nineteenth century, the other from the twenty-first. Lest you think that this makes it a predictable tale – it's not! The story deals with issues of a slave from a different angle, as the author weaves the lives of these two women together.
The plot is fresh and interesting with some twists I didn't see coming. It is well written. The author manages to keep the "voice" of her characters distinctive throughout the novel. There was none of the guessing about whom a passage was about. This frustration seems a more common reality in
fiction today. The author did a good job in the development of the characters and I wanted to know how it worked out -- It was an, okay, how about just a little more!
The book grabbed me before I finished the first chapter and held me captive until I finished the book! I think it would be a great choice for a book discussion group. It has the possibility of expanding one's view of the world today. I really enjoyed The House Child. I'll be watching for Ms Conklin's next tome.
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Joan W. (Orion, MI)
The House Girl
I was very excited to receive a copy of The House Girl. I love reading these types of stories. The going back and forth of two eras was handled very well. I felt so sorry for Josephine, the slave girl, and was anxious to find out what happened to her. Lina, a smart corporate lawyer, in her mission of the reparations case and the art world was intricately woven all together and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I would certainly recommend this book and look forward to the next one by this author.
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Sue J. (Wauwatosa, WI)
Great Read
The House Girl weaves the stories of Josephine, a young house slave in the 1850's and Lina, a hard working corporate lawyer. Lina is assigned to a case that would compensate African American descendants for the pain and suffering caused by slavery. Lina finds a descendant of a slave to be the plaintiff through her artist father. She discovers a collection of paintings by LuAnne Bell that may have actually been painted by her slave, Josephine. In the search for a descendant of Josephine, Lina learns about herself and questions her choices in life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction - I loved it!
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John W. (Saint Louis, MO)
Tale of Two Women
The House Girl tells two stories, one about Josephine, a slave on the Bell plantation in Virginia in 1852 and the second about Lina, a lawyer with a major law firm in NYC that has been asked to assist a client with a historical reparations claim for descendants of slaves. At the same time, another legal issue emerges concerning a collection of paintings that have been attributed to Luanne Bell for years – an art critic comes forward to announce that the artist was Josephine, not her master. Lina searches for the truth about Josephine, trying to track down her descendants to see if they will be the plaintiffs in the reparations case.
The House Girl is about finding yourself and finding your history. It's about defining yourself on your own terms and not by how others. Most importantly is about love, regret and the need for justice. I thought this book was excellent debut novel, and I would definitely read another book by Conklin.
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Sue H. (Wooster, OH)
A memorable journey
Tara Conklin invites readers on a memorable journey in her novel The House Girl. She creates characters who inspire affection and interest and her language use adds to the reader's continuing desire to know more. Set in 21st century New York City and 1850s Virginia, Conklin moves action between the two seamlessly. Readers become intimate parts of the lives of both Lina, a young NY attorney embarking on a landmark lawsuit, and Josephine, the young black house girl possessed of an artistic talent that she uses as an outlet for her long-buried emotions. As a high school English teacher, this book appeals both to the adult reader in me and to the teacher of adolescents who will equally enjoy this look back in time.
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