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Before the End Meet the author Kathryn Meyer Griffith |
If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home Meet the author John Jodzio |
Orchard Valley Brides Meet the author Debbie Macomber |
Outside the Ordinary World Meet the author Dori Ostermiller |
Home Again Meet the author Mariah Stewart |
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Dear Librarian, I am very excited that my debut novel WENCH will be released by Amistad/HarperCollins on January 5, 2010. This book has been a labor of love, and I am looking forward to sharing this fascinating story of an enslaved woman who becomes, at an early age, the sexual paramour of her master. I stumbled upon the following historical footnote while doing research a few years ago: In 1851, a lawyer named Elias P. Drake purchased a plot of land near Xenia, Ohio with the intent to establish a summer vacation resort where the country's elite could relax and enjoy the mineral springs in the area. At the time, it was believed that natural water could cure illnesses and bring about good health. What made this resort unusual, however, was that it became a popular vacation destination for southern slaveholders and their enslaved mistresses. Ultimately, these flagrantly open relationships offended the northern abolitionists who also frequented the resort. After four years, the resort closed. This part of the story has been confirmed by historians. I took this forgotten historical note and sketched in a fictional account of what it would have been like to be an enslaved woman traveling to this free state each summer. Why wouldn't the women try to escape? What kinds of emotional attachments did they have with these men? Initially, I believed that it was entirely possible that they actually loved the men. Ultimately, I discovered that it was much more complicated than that. I am grateful to the many librarians who helped me research for this book, and name each one of them in the book's acknowledgments. While others write in coffee shops, I do a lot of my work in libraries. I have a special place in my heart for this country's public library system and for you—the people who run it!! WENCH will also be available in audio for libraries only via Books on Tape. For more about the novel, visit www.dolenperkinsvaldez.com. Enjoy!! Dolen
Wench / Dolen Perkins-Valdez / Amistad / Hardcover; 304 Pages
Price: $24.99 / ISBN: 978-0061706547 / Published: January, 2010 Dolen Perkins-Valdez is one of our featured authors this week. Click here to view her reader comments and feel free to use them in your newsletters. |