Wench

Like many other blemishes in American History there are many hidden tales and secrets surrounding slavery.  Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez follows the story of three women who summer at Tawawa House in Ohio.  A luxurious retreat for Southern white men and their black mistresses.  Make no mistake, the women are slaves.  They travel in chains.  But, in the free territory of the resort the women reside with a modicum of freedom in small cottages awaiting visits from their masters.

The summer of 1852 is different.  Mawu is a new woman at the resort.  She speaks of slaves who have escaped and freedom.  Her ideas trigger a chain of events that continue through the following two summers.   Lizzie, Reenie and Sweet begin to question the lives they lead.

Wench brought humanity to a decidedly inhumane time.  The hypocrisy of the white men was appalling, but not surprising, in the way they showed their "love" to their black lovers and children, able to easily switch their view of both from humans to property in the blink of an eye.  Perkins-Valdez has written a beautiful story of perseverance in spite of everything.