Akron Public Library

At the turn of the nineteenth century on a tobacco plantation in Virginia, young, white Lavinia, who was orphaned on her passage from Ireland, arrives on the steps of the kitchen house and is placed under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate, black daughter. Lavinia learns to cook, clean, serve food, and cherish the quiet strength and love of her new family. In time, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, caring for the master's...

The moving abolitionist novel that fueled the fire of the human rights debate in 1852 and melodramatically condemned the institution of slavery through such powerfully realized characters as Tom, Eliza, Topsy, Eva, and Simon Legree. First published more than 150 years ago, this monumental work is today being reexamined by critics, scholars, and students.

A novel that spans one hundred years and is set in Virginia during the Civil War and a century beyond explores the brutal legacy of violence and exploitation in American society as it examines the fates of the inhabitants of Beauvais Plantation outside of Richmond, Virginia and their descendants.

"The author of the New York Times bestseller and beloved book club favorite The Kitchen House continues the story of Jamie Pyke, son of both a slave and master of Tall Oakes, whose deadly secret compels him to take a treacherous journey through the Underground Railroad. Published in 2010, The Kitchen House became a grassroots bestseller. Fans connected so deeply to the book's characters that the author, Kathleen Grissom, found herself being asked...

Amantha Starr, born and raised by a loving father on a plantation in pre-Civil War Kentucky, embarks on a lifelong search for answers about her tangled past when she learns, upon her father's death, that her mother was a slave and that she, too, is about to be sold into servitude.

"Moments after Lisbeth is born, she's taken from her mother and handed over to an enslaved wet nurse, Mattie, a young mother separated from her own infant son in order to care for her tiny charge. Thus begins an intense relationship that will shape both of their lives for decades to come. Though Lisbeth leads a life of privilege, she finds nothing but loneliness in the company of her overwhelmed mother and her distant, slave-owning father. As she...

This edition includes:The 1852 first book edition, accompanied by a preface, note on the text, and explanatory annotations.Twenty-two illustrations and historical documents on slavery and abolitionism are included, as are seventeen critical reviews spanning more than 160 years.

Tells the stories of a saint-like slave, a religious woman's courtship in eighteenth-century Newport, R.I., and life in a small Massachusetts town.

"Burdened with the responsibility of running an entire plantation, Carrie Cromwell fights to understand the forces tearing her beloved country apart. As battles rage around her, she watches her life as her life slowly unravels and she discovers truths she would never have imagined. Will her actions and decisions push her even farther from those she loves? When the danger she dreads becomes reality, will she find the courage and strength to escape?"--Author's...