This is really a heartbreaking, tender tale about a field-hand slave who was forced to tear her own infant son from her breast, handing him over to a wet nurse so she could be a wet nurse to the master’s child, a job considered somewhat of a “promotion” since she was brought inside the house to work, provided with better food and her own tiny room adjacent to the newborn’s more luxurious accommodation. The story is about the bond that develops between Miss Elizabeth (Lisbeth) and the slave, Mattie, which is an enduring attachment and relationship, and it is an exploration into the hard life of the slaves and their cold, cruel masters.
I really liked this story because it is just that, a story told gently in a very linear way, making it easy to follow. Even though it was simply told, it still managed to arouse the deepest of emotions in me, the reader, because of the subject matter. It is about a horrific time in America’s past, a time in which the injustices treated in the book most certainly were commonplace. As in Sue Monk’s “The Invention of Wings”, the main “white character” (but in this book’s case, it is a fictional young woman), grows up with conflicting emotions about the unjust world on her plantation, faces the shallowness and cruelty of her kind, the landowner who makes his fortune from the work of slaves, and eventually, she finds the courage to rise up against, and defy, those she loves most, but that is where the comparison between the two books ends,
Slave owners did not honor their agreements, rather they honored their greed. They could not be as wealthy and well thought of if they paid the slaves or set them free. The slaves were property which added to their wealth and stature in the community. The contracts granting the indentured servants and Africans their freedom were ignored when a new law was passed negating their former arrangements, even when only weeks away from the end of their term of enslavement. They were unjustly treated and brutally mishandled as chattels. They were powerless to object. Illiteracy and the fear of inhuman punishment were the strongest weapons of the slave owner and the cultivation of the slave’s innocent ignorance enabled them to keep them prisoners their whole lives and use them in any way they chose. If they had been able to read and understand the world around them, I wondered if they quite possibly would have organized and revolted instead of being kept down by a dominant white minority population of cruel taskmasters who treated them as less than human. It defies the imagination to think that this type of behavior, condemned in the Holocaust, was smiled upon in America during this time period. It is hard to imagine that even President Abraham Lincoln did not fight the war to free the slave, but rather to bring greater economic security to the country whose very existence was being threatened and torn apart by The Civil War. Justice was eventually served but at a tremendous cost.
Women were also kept largely ignorant about the ways of the world and were not permitted to discuss anything of import with male companions. They lived in a bubble which they believed would float on forever. While Lisbeth worried about gowns, though, Mattie worried about surviving. Severely whipped when her husband and son escaped from different plantations, without her knowledge, she felt beaten down and defeated until she discovered that she was, once again, pregnant with Emmanuel’s child. The child gave her hope and she lived for the day that might find them all together once again, when father and son would meet the daughter and sister they never knew. Her courage and stamina were remarkable. Time passes and as Lisbeth is planning her future life, learning comportment and conversational skills, naively often quite unaware of the disparity between the slaves and the owners, assuming that this was just the way it was and would always be in the world, so was Mattie patiently planning for her own future.
I found it hard to believe that Lisbeth could have been that naïve about the world around her. She knew injustice when she saw it, but stood by quietly. Apparently she had learned her lessons in obedience and behavior well. I also found it hard to believe that she could have kept her relationship with Mattie so secret for so long a time, especially when she, at a very tender young age, barely 10, started teaching Samuel, Mattie’s son, his letters, which he in turn taught to others without ever being discovered, although he had to sneak off to hide under a large tree with his mother and Lisbeth for two years. There were always watchful eyes of overseers to beware of, the gossip of slaves to fear , the wagging, teasing tongues of family members that could threaten her safety, and, most especially, even Mattie’s life. I kept wondering if she really could have gotten away with such deception. Children often unexpectedly blurt out information inadvertently, but Lisbeth was apparently mature beyond her years and growing more aware of the injustices she witnessed.
The story ended in fairytale fashion, athough no one reached nirvana. I didn’t feel as if it rang true in the conclusion which seemed contrived. However, the coming of age of Lisbeth and the strength of Mattie’s character carried the story to its end without disappointment. It is a sweet story in which some justice prevailed in an unjust society, and so, though simply written, it packed quite a punch. Something about this little book brought the horror of slavery right into the present day. It is Kathleen Grissom’s “The Kitchen House” in reverse and so much worse in the pain it exhibits, but so beautiful in the love that crossed color lines. The stoicism and bravery of the slave was remarkable. Like survivors of the Holocaust, there was a strong character and will to live, always hoping for salvation and a better day.
Still, one has to wonder how man finds it in himself to treat any human with such indignity and cruelty. But, then, I am brought up short when I think of terrorists, today, like the radical Islamic group called Isis, that preys on the innocent with vile, sadistic tactics.

Loved this book. We'll developed characters and a great story line

I felt the book had an interesting story but none of the characters were developed enough to really make an impact on me. It was a quick read and enjoyable, but I was hoping for more depth to the story and characters to make it more convincing.

The group enjoyed reading the book overall, however felt it might be too fairy tale like. We kept wainting for something bad to happen. The published questions led to good discussions.

Everyone liked this book, but there really wasn't a whole lot to discuss at our meeting. Once we all agreed that "yup, slavery was terrible" we didn't have much else to say.

Loved it!!