Understanding the history and period of the time, I’d consider it a realistic account of what it meant to be a slave. It embarrassed me as a white person of the horrendous and appalling conditions a black person had to endure. It is still unthinkable because of the color of your skin, or what
g-d your pray to can really matter. Any human life matters.

This story relates the joy, sorrow, character, and unalterable roles given to those living on a Southern plantation in the late 1700's. Told particularly from the perspective of Lavinia, a young white girl indentured to the Captain and owner of the plantation, and Belle, his black illegitimate daughter. The novel captures the feelings of helplessness that all living on the plantation experience at the hands of entitled white men.

Absolutely mesmerizing read....Lavinia a young and white 7 year old orphaned...ship"s
captain James Pyke takes her to his plantation to work as an indentured servant in a kitchen
house of a tobacco plantation...all hell breaks loose when racial tension, family misunderstanding, lynching, rape, arson and murder are inevitable at Tall Oaks Plantation...
reading the sequel Glory over Everything

Beautifully narrated and touching story which has a true base in the history of slavery.
Even though it's drama, you get to make deep connection with these families of slaves who have meaningful and deep relationship among them and the compassion among them is admirable.

Having the story told by two voices makes this novel much stronger. Lavinia is 7 when she comes to the plantation as a white indentured servant with, at first, no memory of her parents' death on the trip from Ireland. Belle is a young mulatto slave, daughter of the plantation's owner, given charge over the child, to care for her and teach her to be a house servant. Lavinia comes to love the people she lives among, calling them "my family." The feeling is mutual. Mostly, the characters are very well rounded--I'd say the major exception is the overseer. On the other hand, much of what we know historically of how overseers treated slaves is exactly like this man treated the people he had power over. For me, the ending, the last few paragraphs, was a bit abrupt. I'd read the sequel first, which may be the reason for this reaction on my part. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the fast paced book, and look forward to what I suspect will be a third in the series.

I've read many similar tales, but without the indentured servant twist. Never the less, I liked it very much. It did not gloss over major problems, but rather treated them gently enough so that I was able to continue reading. Too often the graphic horror of a situation is enough to make me unable to keep on, so this was well handled, in my opinion. Well developed characters, and an interesting take on drug use.

Great book, I really enjoyed it!

I am a bit bothered by the book's melodrama and stereotypes, which kept it from being a great book. Characters lack a lot of depth, and most were either completely good or completely bad. One of the main antagonists was a character who seemed so bi-polar, but the author didn't really delve into why he was that way.

With that said, it was an easy book to pick up, with a writing style that flowed, and I enjoyed spending time with those characters who were generally pretty pleasant (I mean....who wouldn't??)

I just felt it's a story with a lot of potential had it not been so "white-washed."

I just learned there is a related novel put out--"Glory Over Everything." I do think I may try it to see if the author has developed the characters any further.

Good read! Interesting to learn about how life was back then, in that situation.

Really enjoyed this book, there is a lot to be said about this book, but what comes to mind is the amount of resiliency that is present throughout the book. Very emotionally charged at points, but a very good, and captivating read. Would highly recommend.