Artistic talent
and skill are gifts given to chosen people and are not based on skin color or
social standing as the historical novel HOUSE GIRL by Tara Conklin so
beautifully illustrates.
Josephine is a Virginia tobacco plantation slave
who dreams of freedom, while in contemporary times Lina Sparrow an attorney, and
daughter of an artist is beginning work on a slave reparations case.
As these
two lives separated by time and sorrow merge; the story of Josephine and her
mistress
Lu Anne
Bell a famous artist begins to unravel – who is the truly gifted painter – was
it really the young slave girl? As Lina researches Josephine’s story she learns
many truths about herself, slavery, art and life.
A
beautifully written book that combines historical facts such as the Underground
Railroad along with rich details about plantation life for both slave and
master. It is at heart a story of women reaching for more – wanting more and
looking for their places in life – while trying to understand who they really
are and what freedom actually means.
Author
Conklin writes a seamless narrative of two worlds separated by hundreds of
years that provide the reader with a depth of emotion that will linger long after
the last page is read.
