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A review by jess_mango
Property by Valerie Martin
4.0
Property won the Orange Prize for Fiction (now called the Women's Fiction Prize) in 2003. I have a long term goal of reading all 24 (well, 25 once they announce this year's winner next month) of the winners of this award. This book puts my count of "winners read" at 12 (woah, I'm half way there...)
This was a relatively short read (just under 200 pages) and the first book that I've read by this author. The book is set in the 1800s near New Orleans. The narrator is a young woman, Manon Gaudet who is in an unhappy marriage and tells of her thoughts regarding her relationship with her husband and the slaves in her household with her primary focus being on Sarah, a slave that was given to her as a wedding gift by her aunt.
Manon's voice is cold and severe. She doesn't sugar-coat anything in her story and has a realistic view of her place in the world. As much as Sarah is Manon's property, Manon realizes that she in turn is her husband's property and has no hope of an independent or happy life.
This was a relatively short read (just under 200 pages) and the first book that I've read by this author. The book is set in the 1800s near New Orleans. The narrator is a young woman, Manon Gaudet who is in an unhappy marriage and tells of her thoughts regarding her relationship with her husband and the slaves in her household with her primary focus being on Sarah, a slave that was given to her as a wedding gift by her aunt.
Manon's voice is cold and severe. She doesn't sugar-coat anything in her story and has a realistic view of her place in the world. As much as Sarah is Manon's property, Manon realizes that she in turn is her husband's property and has no hope of an independent or happy life.