The Kitchen House
The Kitchen House is an intricate tale of the south. It takes us back to when servants were the property of their masters and could not speak up for themselves or their family members. Many of the intimate secrets of this family are shared with us as the book unfolds. The master, in this case a Captain, comes back from his travels with a seven-year-old orphaned Irish girl, Lavinia, and tells his kitchen staff to train her as their own and keep her with them. Understandably, the staff feels uncomfortable about having her live with them since this breaks the boundaries of what has become acceptable between black and white.
Lavinia grows up to become one of the “Kitchen House” family members and she witnesses first-hand the cruelty of white landowners and their staff against the slaves. In the end, Lavinia becomes a member of the “Big House” landowner’s family because she is white. The consequence is that she must renounce her black “Kitchen House” family. This is an incestuous and unethical living situation. Lavinia is a pawn who cannot save the lives of those she loves, much as she tries to.
The author paints a very visual portrait of the kitchen house and the big house. The characters are alive and we understand why the slaves are so well bonded and loving toward each other, while the big house family is not. This is an interesting and emotional story line that grabs you from the first page and explores the meaning of family and loyalty regardless of race.
