The Kitchen House: A Novel (Deluxe Gift Edition)

About this book

Kathleen Grissom New York Times bestselling author of the highly anticipated Glory Over Everything established herself as a remarkable new talent with The Kitchen House now a contemporary classic. In this gripping novel a dark secret threatens to expose the best and worst in everyone tied to the estate at a thriving plantation in Virginia in the decades before the Civil War. Orphaned during her passage from Ireland young white Lavinia arrives on the steps of the kitchen house and is placed as an indentured servant under the care of Belle the masters illegitimate slave daughter. Lavinia learns to cook clean and serve food while guided by the quiet strength and love of her new family. In time Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house caring for the masters opium-addicted wife and befriending his dangerous yet protective son. She attempts to straddle the worlds of the kitchen and big house but her skin color will forever set her apart from Belle and the other slaves. Through the unique eyes of Lavinia and Belle Grissoms debut novel unfolds in a heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful story of class race dignity deep-buried secrets and familial bonds.