Time for linking up with Heather @ Blonde...Undercover Blonde for Book Club! Yay!
This week I read "the House Girl" by Tara Conklin-
Here's the synopsis from Goodreads.com: "Virginia, 1852. Seventeen-year-old Josephine Bell decides to run from the failing tobacco farm where she is a slave and nurse to her ailing mistress, the aspiring artist Lu Anne Bell. New York City, 2004. Lina Sparrow, an ambitious first-year associate in an elite law firm, is given a difficult, highly sensitive assignment that could make her career: she must find the “perfect plaintiff” to lead a historic class-action lawsuit worth trillions of dollars in reparations for descendants of American slaves.
It is through her father, the renowned artist Oscar Sparrow, that Lina discovers Josephine Bell and a controversy roiling the art world: are the iconic paintings long ascribed to Lu Anne Bell really the work of her house slave, Josephine? A descendant of Josephine’s would be the perfect face for the reparations lawsuit—if Lina can find one. While following the runaway girl’s faint trail through old letters and plantation records, Lina finds herself questioning her own family history and the secrets that her father has never revealed: How did Lina’s mother die? And why will he never speak about her?
Moving between antebellum Virginia and modern-day New York, this searing, suspenseful and heartbreaking tale of art and history, love and secrets, explores what it means to repair a wrong and asks whether truth is sometimes more important than justice."
My thoughts: Describing this book as "searing and suspenseful" is totally confusing to me. Gone Girl was "Searing and Suspenseful", this is thought provoking and well painted with words. The synopsis pretty much covers the plot, but I like Tara Conklin's writing and would definitely read more by her. If you want a relatively easy read with some American history this is a great choice.
Jasmine
Hmmm... i will have to check it out. I like reading stories about American History that aren't too dry. This seems like a good choice.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteit sounds good though!!
ReplyDeleteHmm, it's too bad when blurbs don't quite fit with the actual book. The plot seems like it has some cool elements, though. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely review. I'm such a book nerd. Always on the lookout for new reads! I might be skipping this one as it's totally my taste, but that's not to say it doesn't sound interesting. I really hate it, though, when the synopsis isn't a very accurate portrayal of the book itself!
ReplyDeletewww.hudasbeauty.blogspot.com
I think "Searing and Suspenseful" could describe wondering if Josephine is actually the artist, but definitely wouldn't use those words to describe the book. I really like it though, and am happy to see someone else felt the same!
ReplyDelete