Synopsis

Synopisis

WENCH

An ambitious and startling debut novel that follows the lives of four women at a resort popular among slaveholders who bring their enslaved mistresses.

wench \'wench\ n. from Middle English "wenchel," 1 a: a girl, maid, young woman; a female child.

Tawawa House in many respects is like any other American resort before the Civil War. Situated in Ohio, this idyllic retreat is particularly nice in the summer when the Southern humidity is too much to bear. The main building, with its luxurious finishes, is loftier than the white cottages that flank it, but then again, the smaller structures are better positioned to catch any breeze that may come off the pond. And they provide more privacy, which best suits the needs of the Southern white men who vacation there every summer with their black, enslaved mistresses. It's their open secret.

Lizzie, Reenie, and Sweet are regulars at Tawawa House. They have become friends over the years as they reunite and share developments in their own lives and on their respective plantations. They don't bother too much with questions of freedom, though the resort is situated in free territory, but when truth-telling Mawu comes to the resort and starts talking of running away, things change.

To run is to leave behind everything these women value most - friends and families - still down South, and for some it also means escaping from the emotional and psychological bonds that bind them to their masters. When a fire on the resort sets off a string of tragedies, the women of Tawawa House soon learn that triumph and dehumanization are inseparable and that love exists even in the most inhuman, brutal of circumstances, all while they are bearing witness to the end of an era.

An engaging and wholly original novel, Wench explores, with an unflinching eye, the moral complexities of slavery.

Book Selections

Below you will find the books we've read together

Book #1 The First Lady ... Carl Weber

Book #2 Love & Lies… Connie Briscoe

Book #3 It Only Gets Better.. Lolita Files/ Connie Briscoe

Book #4 This Fire Down In My Soul… J.D.Mason

Book #5 Guilty Pleasures … Donna Hil

Book #6 The Ex Files… Victoria C. Murray/ Confessions of a Lonely Soul… Harold Turley III

Book #7 Everybody Say Amen...ReShonda Tata Billingsley

Book #8 The Shack... William P. Young

Book #9 A Taste Of Good Fruit... Marita Teague

Book #10 Redemption... Jacquelin Thomas

Book #11 Jezebel...Jacquelin Thomas

Book #12 You Got To Sin To Get Saved... J.D. Mason

Book #13 Rehoboth Road.. Anita Ballard Jones
Book #14 The Dancing Willio Tree...Anita Ballard Jones

Book #15 Illusion... Wanda B. Campbell
Book #16 Up To No Good...Carl Weber

Book #17 Sisters & Husbands... Connie Briscoe
Book#18 This Present Darkness... Frank Peretti

Book #19 She Had It Coming... Mary Monroe
Book #20 PUSH.....Sapphire

Book #21 The SomeDay List.......Stacy Hawkins Adams
Book#22 Worth A Thousand Words.....Stacy Hawkins Adams

Book #23 And On The Eighth Day She Rested..... J.D. Mason

Book #24 We Snap In Silence................ LaVander S. Williams
Book #25 Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It....J.D. Mason

Book #26 Perfect Peace.....Daniel Black
Book #27 Life After Loss......Dorn Wheatley

Book #28 The Help.......Kathryn Stockett
Book #29 Sins Of The Mother.............Victoria Christopher Murray

Book #30 WENCH..............................Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Journey's

Sista Corner

Journal Your Journey

A Letter To My Sistas

A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day,
drinking iced tea and visiting with her mother. As
they talked about life, about marriage, about the
responsibilities of life and the obligations of
adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her
glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance
upon her daughter..
Don't forget your sisters,' she advised, swirling
the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll
be more important as you get older. No matter how
much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need sisters. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them.'
Remember that 'sisters' means ALL the women...
your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women always do.'

What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman
thought. Haven't I just gotten married?
Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a
married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my husband and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!'
But she listened to her mother. She kept contact
with her sisters and made more women friends each
year. As the years tumbled by, one after another,
she gradually came to understand that her mother really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature
work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman,
sisters are the mainstays of her life..
After more than 50 years of living in this world,
here is what I've learned:
THIS SAYS IT ALL:
Time passes.
Life happens.
Distance separates.
Children grow up.
Jobs come and go.
Love waxes and wanes.
Men don't do what they're supposed to do.
Hearts break.
Parents die.
Colleagues forget favors.
Careers end.
BUT.........
Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how
many miles are
between you. A girl friend is never farther away
than needing her can reach.
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you
have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life
will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on,
praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on
your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the
valley's end..
Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk
beside you...Or come in and carry you out.
Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters,
daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, Mothers,
Grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins, and extended family: all bless our life!
The world wouldn't be the same without women, and
neither would I. When we began this adventure called
womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other..Every day, we need each other still..