Wench: A Novel (P.S.)
Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is startling and original fiction that raises provocative questions of power and freedom, love and dependence. An enchanting and unforgettable novel based on little-known fact, Wench combines the narrative allure of Cane River by Lalita Tademy and the moral complexities of Edward P. Jones’s The Known World as it tells the story of four black enslaved women in the years preceding the Civil War. A stunning debut novel, Wench marks author Perkins-Valdez—previously a finalist for the 2009 Robert Olen Butler Short Fiction Prize—as a writer destined for greatness.
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Community Reviews
This is a well written story about Tawawa House, an American resort before the Civil War located about 65 miles from Cincinnati. While the story is fiction, the resort was real. White slave owners would vacation here in the summers with their black slaves. White northerners would also come to the resort. (OH was a free state.) This is the story about 4 women who come to the resort with their owners. It is beautifully written-I loved all the characters. They had distinct personalities and tried their best in the worst of circumstances. Do not think that this a story similar to The Help. While both books have women characters, the stories could not be more different. The women in Wench are slaves. They are mistreated, abused and raped by their owners. Their children, by the very owners who rape them, are also considered property. They dream of escaping and having a better life. It is still hard to imagine what life for a slave was like and that it actually did happen in this country. It is hard to put into words.
The writing was beautiful and intelligent, but I found the story confusing and believe more focus would have helped getting the matter at hand the importance it deserved.
I read this book after reading another by this author. Her themes are based on true events. They are gritty, raw, unflinching. I cannot see how someone could "enjoy" them, since they reveal so much heartache and injustice. You see it through because it is important to bear witness to the stories. This narrative of four enslaved women has no happy ending; their experiences stay close to the history of enslaved men and women in the 19th century. Triggers: sexual assault, child loss, racism, slavery, graphic violence.
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