The Secrets of Heavenly Heavenly Plantation Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Teresa Robison Chris Abell Books
Download As PDF : The Secrets of Heavenly Heavenly Plantation Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Teresa Robison Chris Abell Books
Olivia's marriage to an African-American man was unacceptable to her mother Emma, Southern-bred descendant of prominent South Carolina slaveholders. Olivia assumed that bigotry was the product of her mother's loyalty to long-dead relatives, an allegiance to maintain the family's white blood line. After Emma's death though, Olivia finds a letter and an old journal among her belongings. Soon, she discovers the secret that prompted Emma to irrationally blame an entire race - a secret that had nothing to do with family history, although it strongly paralleled another tragic event from the past.
1846, Marianne Witherell's journal Before Lincoln and the American Civil War, slavery is at its peak in South Carolina. A young slave girl named Willa suddenly arrives at Heavenly Plantation with her mother Heddie, destined to serve the wealthy plantation family as house servants. Right away, two of the Master's children - Marianne and Seth - forge a bond with Willa, in spite of their older brother Foster's warnings about the evils of mixing with the "darkies".
Although she grows up in the "big house" treated like family by her pair of white friends, Willa cannot forget that she is still a slave. Never is that fact made clearer than when Foster cruelly taunts and threatens her in secret. As it threads through the lives of its diverse characters, this novel captures the complicated and often violent nature of life in the antebellum South.
As Willa's story is told, a dramatic tapestry is woven, binding the Witherell family to a web of secrets that include forbidden love and faithful friendships alongside dangerous obsessions, mental instability, and even murder.
The Secrets of Heavenly Heavenly Plantation Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Teresa Robison Chris Abell Books
Forbidden love, lust, violence and murder are all strong elements in this exceptional African-American slavery novel.The book starts in the present day. Olivia's late mother never accepted her daughter's coloured husband. Why? Rummaging in her mother's wardrobe, Olivia finds the answer and an old journal written in the middle of the 19th century by a family ancestor, a white girl named Marianne. Reading this journal, Olivia is taken back in time, discovering shocking secrets that were kept hidden behind the gates of the upstanding Witherell family's South Carolina rice plantation - Heavenly plantation - so long ago.
1846. Black slaves Willa Grigsby and her mother Heddie are brought to Heavenly's 'big house'. Heddie is to serve as wet nurse for the mistress's newly-born twin boys. Young Willa is allowed to play with and soon forms a strong bond with the other Witherell children, Marianne and Seth. These kids do not yet know the true savage nature of slavery and accept Willa as one of them. (I'm not sure if this could have really be allowed to happen back then.)
Foster, the eldest Witherell sibling, however does not like the 'dirty little slave girl'. For him the blacks are just a commodity that can be dominated and used whenever and as needed. And this is his exact interest in Willa. He'll show her one day.
Soon Willa is made aware that the possibilities for her life as a slave are severely limited and she can never have the same opportunities as her white friends. The difference between the races is clear - one orders, the other obeys.
Growing up into a beautiful woman and an excellent seamstress, Willa's presence at the plantation affects the lives of all those around her. Both black and white folk start to look at her with different eyes. Soon love, lust, hatred and violence around her intensify, moulding her life in the process.
The main characters in the novel are well-developed with the exception of the young twins on which I would have liked to learn more. Also, I thought that Olivia and her story could have been left out completely by the author as Olivia's and Willa's stories seem to have nothing to do with each other. Only in the last chapter, the correlation between the two stories is made clear. Other than that, this is a great book and I highly recommend it!
Product details
|
Tags : Amazon.com: The Secrets of Heavenly: Heavenly Plantation, Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition): Teresa Robison, Chris Abell: Books, ,Teresa Robison, Chris Abell,The Secrets of Heavenly: Heavenly Plantation, Book 1,Teresa Robison,B01G62ANKW
People also read other books :
- The Magnificent Showboats of the Lower Vissel River Lune XXIII South Big Planet Jack Vance 9781619471207 Books
- King Tide Miami Jones Florida Mystery Volume 7 AJ Stewart 9781945741043 Books
- The Monk Wedding Conrad Ferdinand Meyer David Staats 9781450527729 Books
- Hilary Homecoming Darkover eBook Marion Zimmer Bradley
- Ideas for Business (Audible Audio Edition) Riley Reive Kent Bates Books
The Secrets of Heavenly Heavenly Plantation Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Teresa Robison Chris Abell Books Reviews
This was a good book but there were some major flaws. My biggest issue is that the author described the slave and her mistress as best friends about 500 times. She would even have the reader believe the mistress was so concerned for her slave that she felt bad about going to parties because her slave couldn't go. It was overkill, distracting from the story, and at times downright annoying. The other issue was the numerous grammatical errors. That took away from the rhythm of the story. Having said that, I will admit that it was still a good read and I found myself unable to put it down. There's potential for this author to be great if she, and her editor, correct those egregious errors in the writing and editing. Would love to see a sequel but with necessary adjustments and corrections.
The story about life on an Old Southern plantation from both black and white perspective is very good. There are twists and turns to keep the story fresh. It's an easy read and the action is well paced to keep one wanting to read more. The only drawback is the girls' relationship is a bit too sweet.
I do recommend it for a good read about the Old South.
This is a book that has you wondering just how low our our civilization can go in justifying the terrible treatment of of our fellow human beings whether it's by color, religion or sexual orientation. Why mankind as a whole has had to use inhumane treatment of others as way of showing their supiority is inexcusable and sadly continues to this day whether we'd like to admit it or not. We'd like to think that we aren't like that anymore, that we'd never cause the horror of the holocaust to happen again ...but the kids that bully others for no reason are ultimately the next generation of so called adults that will fighting and causing wars and perpetuating predjudices down the road..and this is only one example. This book is as engrossing as it is disgusting that a person could treat others like that. If this is a first novel than I'd like to read more from this very talented author.
I live near Charleston, SC and spend much time at the plantations and reading diaries from that time period. This book falls true to actual accounts of black/white interaction on these small communities. This book will make you mad, sad, make you sigh and cry. You have to be able to take your 2013 life experiences and lean into the mindset of southern men, the dislike of white women for black slaves and the uppercrust who lived in the big house. Hard to do. This is a book for women to understand each other and live together. The white, wealthy women were uptight, weren't allowed to talk back to their husbands and were afraid to express their sexuality. They wore tons of underclothes and heavy dresses and had to live in the same house with barely dressed, sensual black women. They had to watch, but not speak, when their arrogant husbands raped the young black girls because they owned them and felt entitled. The black girls were afraid to say no because they would be whipped or sold. Even Thomas Jefferson perpetrated this crime and felt no remorse at the children born due to his arrogance. This is a hard book for a woman to read but a necessary look at how we treat each other. This is the authors first book. I hope it won't be the last. She has dug through the facade and uncovered the ugly truth. Good read.
Forbidden love, lust, violence and murder are all strong elements in this exceptional African-American slavery novel.
The book starts in the present day. Olivia's late mother never accepted her daughter's coloured husband. Why? Rummaging in her mother's wardrobe, Olivia finds the answer and an old journal written in the middle of the 19th century by a family ancestor, a white girl named Marianne. Reading this journal, Olivia is taken back in time, discovering shocking secrets that were kept hidden behind the gates of the upstanding Witherell family's South Carolina rice plantation - Heavenly plantation - so long ago.
1846. Black slaves Willa Grigsby and her mother Heddie are brought to Heavenly's 'big house'. Heddie is to serve as wet nurse for the mistress's newly-born twin boys. Young Willa is allowed to play with and soon forms a strong bond with the other Witherell children, Marianne and Seth. These kids do not yet know the true savage nature of slavery and accept Willa as one of them. (I'm not sure if this could have really be allowed to happen back then.)
Foster, the eldest Witherell sibling, however does not like the 'dirty little slave girl'. For him the blacks are just a commodity that can be dominated and used whenever and as needed. And this is his exact interest in Willa. He'll show her one day.
Soon Willa is made aware that the possibilities for her life as a slave are severely limited and she can never have the same opportunities as her white friends. The difference between the races is clear - one orders, the other obeys.
Growing up into a beautiful woman and an excellent seamstress, Willa's presence at the plantation affects the lives of all those around her. Both black and white folk start to look at her with different eyes. Soon love, lust, hatred and violence around her intensify, moulding her life in the process.
The main characters in the novel are well-developed with the exception of the young twins on which I would have liked to learn more. Also, I thought that Olivia and her story could have been left out completely by the author as Olivia's and Willa's stories seem to have nothing to do with each other. Only in the last chapter, the correlation between the two stories is made clear. Other than that, this is a great book and I highly recommend it!
0 Response to "[PK7]⇒ Read The Secrets of Heavenly Heavenly Plantation Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition) Teresa Robison Chris Abell Books"
Post a Comment