Wench
By Dolen Perkins-Valdez
(Amistad, Paperback, 9780061706561, February 2011, 320pp.)

The Short of It:

With sharp, clean prose, Perkins-Valdez delivers a story that’s sometimes tragic, at times hopeful and thoroughly compelling.

The Rest of It:

wench \’wench\ n. from Middle English “wenchel,” 1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.

It’s a little known fact, but back in the mid-1800’s, there was a resort in Ohio called Tawawa House. It was a summer resort, frequented by slave owners and their slave mistresses. When Perkins-Valdez learned of this, she was amazed that such a place existed. Intrigued by the idea, she crafted a tale about four women, all friends, and how their roles as mistresses were not always clear-cut.

This is Lizzie’s story. Drayle purchased her as a young girl. Gave her books, treated her as if she mattered and as she grew into a young woman, her love of Drayle grew as well.  It doesn’t matter that he is married to Fran. Lizzie knows that he holds a special place in his heart for her and when she gives him the children that Fran can’t, she feels that her position in the house is secure.

To confirm this, Drayle takes her to Tawana House each summer. There, they sleep in the same room. She cooks for him, cleans for him, yet in her head, she is the one he loves. At first, she is happy playing this role, but as she becomes close friends with the other women, Reenie, Sweet and Mawu, she begins to question her importance and as her own children get older, she is often reminded that they are in fact, slaves.

This is a wonderful, complex story about a slave and her white master but it’s also a story about friendship. It’s difficult to understand how a slave could ever love her master, but to Lizzie, Drayle is everything to her. And although she knows she is tied to him because of the children, she really can’t imagine life any other way.

Lizzie’s story is tragic, because as a reader you can clearly see the master/slave lines but Lizzie can’t. Not at first. But somehow, I wasn’t frustrated with Lizzie. I wanted her to make different choices, sure, but I didn’t fault her for the ones she made. What’s strange is that I felt sorry for Fran as well.  She knows full well what is going on in her house, but she doesn’t have the power to do much about it. Oh yes, she tries, but she too, learns a thing or two in the end.

I’ve read a few books dealing with slave/master relations, but none of them were quite like this one. This story was unique and it left me thinking about things long after I finished it. I highly recommend it.

Source: Borrowed

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