Audiobook Review: The Kitchen House

Title:  The Kitchen House

Author:  Kathleen Grissom

Category:  Historical Fiction; American > Southern

Length:  369 pages

My Rating:  7 – Very good

From Goodreads.com: When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

My Thoughts

I don't know how fair my review is going to be since I started listening to this book clear back in April 2011 when I had a 45-minute commute to work. Since then I have picked it up only when my exercise buddy has cancelled and I needed something else to keep my mind off the dragging minutes. It served very well for both purposes — commuting and exercising — and made both much more enjoyable than they would have otherwise been.

Now to remembering from the beginning... 

I remember being drawn into the story right away. The narrators, Orlagh Cassidy and Bahni Turpin, did an excellent job. I liked that there were two narrators rather than one doing all the voices. For me, two narrators gave a greater distinction between Lavinia and Belle, making them more real. I also felt that two different narrators helped me move between the points of view more easily.

The characters were all very well-drawn. I felt like I knew all of them, and had personal feelings (love, like, annoyed with, hate, etc.) for just about every character in the book. The storyline was absorbing, and every time I left the book I looked forward to going back. I feel like the plot was believable, and that Ms. Grissom had done her homework.

I have two complaints (which may be considered spoilers!): First, that Lavinia and Will were kept apart by nothing more than a miscommunication. This annoyed me to no end, and felt really contrived and cliche. I wish Ms. Grissom could have found a more interesting way for them to not wind up together. I would have been more content if Will had never shown up while she was living with her aunt and uncle, and she had simply fallen for Marshall (the creep) and married him. Second, I wasn't crazy about the way it ended. Everything went to shit (like we knew was going to happen) and then it just worked out for everyone still living. It went rather too quickly and too easily after all the sorrow and heartbreak that occurred throughout the rest of the book. I left the book today feeling disappointed with the ending.

The "Author's Note" at the end of the book was very interesting, and I almost wish it had been included at the beginning. It seems Ms. Grissom was truly inspired to write this story, and that the characters were living inside her for a time. I've heard other authors talk about characters taking them over like that and always feel envious. It would be lovely to write a book, but I just don't feel that calling.