After the discussion at today's luncheon, I debated about whether or not to force myself through the rest of this. It isn't that it is not well written, it is just so damned depressing. And don't let anyone kid you - it is nothing like The Help. I gather that it is being promoted with "If you liked The Help, you'll love ... Lies, all lies. When the most voracious reader of our entire group announced that she had quit halfway through and had no intention of finishing it, I seriously considered just putting it aside. But another spoke up and pointed out an aspect of it that I had not quite considered. The plight of the slaves, both men and women, is the centerpiece, but the lives of the white women were appalling in their own way. For example, the "wench" who is the central character is installed by her master in the bedroom directly opposite his wife's - in the house that had belonged to his wife's family.
I kept on picking it up again, hoping that something would happen - but nothing ever does. Maybe that is the writer's point, but the thing is set ten years before The Emancipation Proclamation - so, in the historical context, you know something is coming, but you have no sense that it will come in time for any of the characters in the story.
I did finish it, reading very quickly! I suppose that it is well-researched and so on, there were definitely aspects of slavery as practiced in the United States that I was completely unaware of, but I'm not sure it was necessary for me to read this.
Well, when it is my turn to pick - the book I have in mind is not exactly a fun read either.
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