The House Girl: A Novel by Tara Conklin

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

Lina Sparrow is an ambitious young lawyer working on a historic class-action suit seeking reparations for the descendants of American slaves. Josephine is a seventeen-year-old house slave who tends to the mistress of a Virginia tobacco farm—an aspiring artist named Lu Anne Bell. Alternating between antebellum Virginia and modern-day New York, The House Girl is a searing tale of art, history, love, and secrets that intertwines the stories of two remarkable women.

my thoughts:

I picked up The House Girl early on Sunday morning, thinking that I would get a few chapters in before breakfast.  Well, the next thing I know, three hours have passed and I've finished the book.  I hadn't even realized how quickly time flew by as I lay there snuggled in bed immersed in this gripping and thought-provoking story.   I even wound up thinking about the story all day long - it was just such a terrific read.

Okay, so what is the story about?  Well, its about two young women - Josephine, a seventeen year old slave living in Virginia during the 1800s, and Lina, an attorney living in modern day New York City.  Josephine wants to run a way and escape from the life of abuse and servitude she endures.  She finds herself hearing a voice in her head urging her to "Run" and so she does - in the middle of the night she leaves and is never heard from again.  Lina is determined to be on the partner track at her firm and devotes her life to work, work, work.  She gets the opportunity to work on a reparations case and finds herself deep in the world of Lu Anne Bell and her house girl, Josephine.  Both stories share a link - art.  While working on her reparations case, Lina learns about a recent controversy in the art world - the discovery that Lu Anne Bell's artwork had been painted by her house girl, Josephine.  Talk about shocking!!  Of course, its not surprising that Bell would take credit for Josephine's work - after all, she's done much worse to the girl.  As for Lina, the journey that this case takes her on winds up being the catalyst that moves her to learn the truth about her mother and her self.  And that is all I am going to write.  This book is just too good for me to ruin for you by telling you everything that happens!  You have to read it for yourself and get lost in Conklin's amazing story about two strong and determined women. 

Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour page for: The House Girl

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!