Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Please don't compare this book with 'The Help',  because "Wench" is far superior to that book, both in quality of writing and historical background.

"Wench" is the story of four women, who each represent an aspect of the life of a female slave,used for sex. One imagines herself in love, one tolerates her master, one is a fighter, and one is worn out after years of abuse. Regardless of their personal experiences, all are 'wenches', women who are sexual partners (and mothers of children) of the men who own them. Though they come from different areas of the south, the four women meet once yearly at an Ohio resort, where for the first time, they are exposed to free Blacks and Northerners. As Ohio was a 'free' state, thoughts of running away begin to occupy their minds, and each has to make a decision about going, staying, and the role of family in their lives.

I found this book fascinating. It is not often that one reads an account of slave life juxtaposed with free Blacks and Northerners that is set pre-Civil War. Dr. Dolen Perkins-Valdez has done a beautiful job of period research, making it easy for the reader to slip into the minds and lives of these women, particularly Lizzie, the protagonist. The first and third sections of the book take place in successive summers in the Ohio resort (which actually existed), while the center section focuses on Lizzie's life from the year she first caught her master's eye until the year before the main action of the book takes place. Perkins-Valdez uses this section to begin to illuminate the complexity of the choices, few though they were, that a slave had to make. I particularly enjoyed the moral complexities illuminated: is a mother's responsibility to her children to make them recognize the reality of their status, or to let them grab whatever joy they can from life? Is it better to turn in a prospective runaway, earning them a whipping, or chance a dead friend when the runaway is almost surely re-captured? Can love exist between individuals when one has absolute control over the other? Dr. Perkins-Valdez never gives us the answer; she lets us make our own determination. Thus, this is not an easy book.There are beautiful things and harsh things that happen, and we're not allowed to flinch from either one. In that way, I think it's more than fair to compare Dr. Dolen Perkins-Valdez to Toni Morrison. Though I'm sure her style isn't as polished, there is that same aspect of "LOOK. SEE. KNOW." that I enjoy in Morrison's best works.

What "Wench" shouldn't be compared to is "The Help". Yes, I know that book is America's darling right now, but "Wench" is leaps and bounds ahead in storytelling ability and believability. No schmaltz. No easy answers. No crap. AND "Wench" is far more historically accurate than "The Help". Please read this book if you think that one was pivotal. You won't be sorry you did.