Sophia C. reviewed on 3/28/2012 + 289 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Wench is a debut historical fiction novel based on an interesting premise: how does it feel to be a favored slave and mistress? do you run for it when taken on holiday by your master? Lizzie, whose master regularly vacations at Tawawa House, a resort in the free territory of Ohio, faces these questions. When newcomer Mawu joins the coterie of slave-mistresses and circumstances change, there's talk of running away. Unlike the others, Lizzie is literate and well-treated, perhaps even loved by her master, the father of her two children. Although understandably conflicted, she came across as naive and indecisive. The prose seemed fragmentary. One dominant event occurs in each short chapter which seems slightly disconnected from the rest, and much is left unsaid. I was disappointed that the women's feelings on sexuality wasn't explored, even though that is a major theme of the master-slave relationship in this story, and there is a lot of "taking" going on. Be warned that there is at least one gruesome scene. In summary, Wench is an impressionistic novel set at an interesting historical moment.

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