What readers think of The House Girl, plus links to write your own review.

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.

I was so excited to get an advanced reader copy of this book. I was looking forward to it and was not disappointed at all. I was caught up in the story from the very beginning. I know many people are not fans of epistolary stories but I really do enjoy them. The main characters are completely engaging and while the storyline was often hard to read and a reminder of just how awful parts of our history are, it was still a very worthwhile read and I highly recommend this book.

My review is based on the soft back edition of this book which I received free from the publisher as an "Advance Readers Edition" in exchange for the promise that I would write a review.

Unlike many books where it takes several chapters before you are drawn into the story, I was immediately captivated by this book. The primary message in the book for me was the comparison between the hopes and dreams of two girls. One was a modern day smart young white female lawyer raised by a single father who thought she knew who she was and what she wanted but found that true satisfaction laid elsewhere. The other girl was a young gifted black girl raised as a "thing" on a Virginia plantation who had never been beyond the gates of the Virginia plantation but had an inner desire to be "free" even while having no concept of what being free would actually consist of. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, these two women had much in common.

There were a multitude of the examples of how horribly the slaves were treated during those days – I thank God that this era of slavery is behind us. There were also hints at the various ways people of today are actually enslaved by controlling things and people. In addition, the novel explored the pros and cons of the question of whether we Americans in 2012 still owe the black people "back pay" for the contributions made by their forefathers in building this great country we all live in.

The two primary characters were very well developed and I could relate to both of them. Unfortunately, I never was able to dive into the mind of some members of the supporting cast. For instance, it would have been interesting to know what really drove the plantation owner. I concluded that a series of failures had made him a bitter and brutal person and I think his reactions were sadly true to life when our dreams fall apart, but I wished I had been able to explore some of his mental processes.

The book was an easy read with a somewhat simple plot but hidden within the tapestry of the plot are several diverse threads that provide insights into the different ways that we humans are wired by God to live and think.

I have always thought that the words “page-turner” is a very descriptive term for a novel that keeps me engrossed in the story and sympathetic to the characters. "The House Girl" is all of that, and I stayed up a couple of nights until the late hours because I just had to know what happened next.

Josephine Bell stole my heart; she is a house slave in Virginia, and we pick up her story in 1852. In a way she is privileged: Her mistress has taught her to read and allows her to paint alongside her. But Josephine is enslaved and longs to run. Part of me wanted her to run, but part of me wanted her to stay, in fear of what would happen to her if she were caught.

Forward to New York City, 2004, to Lina Sparrow, a new lawyer and the daughter of Oscar, a famous, if not particularly financially successful, painter, who for many years has been keeping secrets from Lina about her mother, who was also an artist. Lina begins an investigation into the life of Josephine Bell, and concurrently, her curiosity about her mother is piqued by her father’s upcoming show of paintings of her mother. Like Josephine, Lina is a strong, well-developed character, and her relationship with Oscar is another slant on the age-old theme of a child’s ambivalence, taking steps to back away from dependence on the parent while still wanting the closeness they have always had.

I liked the way the author used letters as a clever way to move the story along without slowing down the action and magazine and newspaper articles to fill in some details.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical novels, stories about family dynamics, mysteries, or who might be looking for a great book club selection.

Josephine is a 17 year old slave in antibellum Virginia while Lina is a twenty something up and coming lawyer in present day NYC. The lives of these two become entwined when a wealthy Black client of Lina’s law firm starts a “slave reparations” law suit that becomes entangled with an art dealer’s contention that Josephine is the true artist and not her widely acclaimed mistress.
Both life in a high powered law firm and life in the slave owning South are presented believably. Lina and Josephine are both sympathetic and well-drawn characters. The story line for both is engaging. While the sub plot involving Lina’s mother is rather thin and too neatly concluded, the artistic element is a link for the two stories.
Book groups will have a variety of subjects to discuss; some very superficial and entertaining and others quite serious and profound. Race relations now and then permeate both stories. The question “Who is Caucasian and who is Black?” may form the body of the discussion. The value of a piece of art and how the artist’s name recognition determines price is another point for discussion. Motherless children and how they and their families cope could form another topic.

This was a wonderful book about the power of creativity and art in a young slave girl. It portrays in an inspiring story how through art a person survives long after they have left this world. It reinforced the importance of art in our world and of preserving our history.

The two juxtaposed strands in Tara Konklin's The House Girl immediately pulled me in: Josephine, fiercely proud house girl, born into slavery in Virginia in the 1830's, and Lina Sparrow, ambitious and fiercely independent lawyer, beginning a career with a prestigious New York law firm. The characters were tenderly wrought, their stories compelling and richly complex, bound together not only by what they have - a propelling drive for justice and for recognition—but also by what they lack – the presence of a mother in their lives. I was spellbound as the narrative propelled me forward, the two stories weaving closer and closer together in both inevitable and unexpected ways. Alas, for me, the spell was broken in the last third of the novel when the narrative veered from these two voices into those of more minor characters. I had fallen in love, and I did not want the sharp-edged beam of Conklin's prose to look away.

The House Girl is a compelling story that interweaves two women from different eras and races. Making the character of Josephine a painter was a fascinating twist on the slavery story – as was having her paintings co-opted by her owner. The opposing modern day story with Lina as an attorney was also a insightful look into the legal world of reparation lawsuits. The twists and turns at the end brought the story full circle and I guess the only thing that I wish is that there was more of a conclusive ending.