Wench: A Novel

Wench: A Novel
by
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
adult historical fiction

What an unusual idea for a book! The author calls upon oral history tales about slave owners taking their Black mistresses on vacation to Xenia Springs, Ohio to create a haunting historical fiction work. I think that the author and just about every possible reader will find this to be a fascinating idea to examine in light of the times in which it takes place (1830's - 1850's).
What psychological grip did the slave owners have on these women that they did not try to escape? What would the consequences be if they did try to leave? What would interactions with Freedmen be? What would the white Ohioans think? There are so many ideas to explore.
I don't want to ruin the plot for you, but it is a good one. If you would like to read this on vacation, you will be thanking your lucky stars that you are living in the here and now instead of back then as a slave woman.
Throughout the whole book I kept thinking "This was OHIO! This wasn't Kentucky or Mississippi or some other place? OHIO"! Incredible.

I found myself examining the poster that is reproduced inside of the front. There is picture of Tawawa House courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society. I would like to see the original poster. Sorry about this poor image.

Washington Post article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012102960.html

If your Ohio library does not already have some copies of this, encourage them to buy at least one. I would recommend it for a monthly book discussion.

Wither: The Chemical Garden Trilogy

Wither: The Chemical Garden Trilogy
by
Lauren DeStefano
young adult/adult science fiction/romance

Sixteen year old Rhine lives in a society after a great catastrophe. Scientists had figured out how to engineer embryos to live long lives and be perfect human beings, but something went dreadfully wrong and now women only live to be 20 and men only live to be 25. In addition, the world's land has been wiped out except for the U.S.A.
Rhine is living a meager existence with her brother when she is kidnapped and forced to marry a rich architect. Will Rhine resign herself to a life of relative luxury, but with a lack of freedom or will she try to escape?
This story is well told and suspenseful, but the science behind it is definitely lacking. There is some kind of mention of a virus causing people to die, but this doesn't make sense. Is it genetic or a virus? Also, it doesn't make sense that the world except the U. S. A. would be underwater. Elevations of land vary greatly across the globe. As far as I know North America is not the highest continent above sea level.
If we suspend the science part, this is a good tragic romance, teen angst tale. I am waiting for the 2nd and 3rd books to come out since a lot of things are left unresolved at the end of book 1.
The cover and interior design are clever - alluding to genetic tables with the headers, footers, and chapter marks.
The title of the series isn't very appealing. Who came up with "Chemical Garden Trilogy"?