Valerie Martin’s Property delivers an eerily mesmerizing inquiry into slavery’s venomous effects on the owner and the owned. The year is 1828, the setting a Louisiana sugar plantation where Manon Gaudet, pretty, bitterly intelligent, and monstrously self-absorbed, seethes under the dominion of her boorish husband. In particular his relationship with her slave Sarah, who is both his victim and his … victim and his mistress.
Exploring the permutations of Manon’s own obsession with Sarah against the backdrop of an impending slave rebellion, Property unfolds with the speed and menace of heat lightning, casting a startling light from the past upon the assumptions we still make about the powerful and powerful.
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The subject matter is difficult – but the writing is superb. I had to force myself past the beginning – stick with it, despite that very distasteful/disturbing scene.
Slaves are about to come after the masters, but the main character is mostly worried about her failing marriage to a brutal, controlling man. Set on a sugar plantation in Louisiana sometime before the Civil War, this is a compelling story of gender, race, and a relationship gone horribly wrong. The book has a dreamy quality (literally, in some …
This is the definitive book on slavery. The characters in this novel will open your eyes to the real meaning of ‘property’.
This is an older book, but one I’ve kept and have re-read several times. The subject is compelling and the story swept me away. It’s absolutely worth your time.
Property is a stunning novel, written from the point of view of a bitterly unhappy young woman, Manon Gaudet. The self-proclaimed aristocratic wife of a sugar plantation owner in the antebellum south, Manon idealizes her dead father and detests her husband in comparison. But through the course of this tightly woven novel, Manon shows signs she …
Thoroughly enjoyed.
a very different perspective on such a tragic topic
It was a great read, but it ended to abruptly
It was an ok book!
Another book to remind us of the victims of slavery. Well written and informative.
A fabulous read…I couldn’t put it down!
There was limited character development, predictable situations, and an abrupt ending. There is no reason to want to read a sequel.
Great point of view from the Plantation owners wives.
A well told story that perfectly illustrates how pride and honor debase our behavior towards our fellow man. The envy a woman holds toward a slave she owns is a heart breaking testament to how easily humans find unhappiness.
Well written, kept my attention. It was also depressing and sad. I’m sure it was more true than not, but the main character was not kind hearted.
The dark, depressing air of this book matches every biography I have read of this period. The character development is well done as well as the twists within the story. A very realistic portrayal of arranged marriage in pre-Civil Way Louisiana.
The story was okay but it wasn’t great. I kept waiting for more plot and character development but was repeatedly let down. What I did admire was how well-written the story was and how the author was able to present this perspective without minimizing the atrocities of slavery. Manon’s story opened my eyes and made me curious about how the wives …
An interesting interpretation and perspective on plantation life. Odd open ending.
I enjoyed the book but thought it had “an ending with no ending”.
Interesting character study of a mistress slave owner, who hates her white husband. If her slave were not of color, I suspect she would empathize more readily with this lady.