The House Girl: A Novel
The House Girl, the historical fiction debut by Tara Conklin, is an unforgettable story of love, history, and a search for justice, set in modern-day New York and 1852 Virginia.
Weaving together the story of an escaped slave in the pre–Civil War South and a determined junior lawyer, The House Girl follows Lina Sparrow as she looks for an appropriate lead plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking compensation for families of slaves. In her research, she learns about Lu Anne Bell, a renowned prewar artist whose famous works might have actually been painted by her slave, Josephine.
Featuring two remarkable, unforgettable heroines, Tara Conklin's The House Girl is riveting and powerful, literary fiction at its very best.
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Community Reviews
This story told in alternating chapters and time periods is definitely intriguing. Two stories unfold as you read: that of Josephine, a house girl whose life is revealed in layers as we learn about her life on this unlucky southern plantation; and Lina - the daughter of two artists, but raised by only one of them. Lina is a new attorney who has been asked to research a class action lawsuit about slavery. The two stories move toward one another in time and their intersection provides a critical turning point for Lina. I genuinely like the characters and found the storyline compelling.