pam

Let me start by saying that I did not read or see the movie of The Help, so I will not make any comparisons to that one.

This is the story of an Irish girl in the late 1700's that is sold as a servant at the tender age of 7 years old. She is placed in the care of the negro slaves in "The Kitchen House" on a Virginia plantation. This is the story of how this girl grows up into two completely different worlds and the fact that she never feels like she fits into either world. It is absolutely heart wrenching at times.

I can't seem to wrap my brain around the idea of slavery and treating any human being as 'less than'. I can't seem to wrap my brain around the idea that slaves actually survived through this all the while knowing that they were not 'less than'. It all makes my skin crawl.

I loved the way this author developed the characters in the book and I felt like I grew to love them as much as our main character Lavinia loved them all. Many times I was so swept up into the story that I could actually smell the smoke coming from the kitchen house or hear the children playing in the yard. I think that I was actually there when the women were assisting another in child birth.

I recommend this to anyone that is in the mood to be absolutely swept away into a different time or place.