Wench

WENCH by Dolen Perkins-Valdez Based on the real Tawawa House, a summer resort in Ohio, this story provides a glimpse into the lives of enslaved women who were brought to the resort as “mistresses” by southern slave owners. As you can imagine this was not at all a relaxing holiday. The author uses historical information and real life first-person narratives to tell the story of Lizzie and the women (Mawu, Reenie and Sweet)... Read Full Review

A look at the hard life of slave women chosen to serve as their "master;s" mistress and bear his children. Enjoyed the unique voices, sad as they were.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez makes a formidable debut in the tale of four women poised on the edge of slavery and freedom in Wench. Based on meticulous research, the author presents Tawawa House, which has oral history as a resort where southern slave owners brought their families during the summer months to Ohio. Using artistic license, Perkins-Valdez imagines the slave masters bringing their slave mistresses where they could openly... Read Full Review

I could not put this book down. Rarely does a book capture my attention the way Wench did. After I started reading this book I left my chores undone, ignored the work on my desk and stayed up late at night reading. I have such mixed feelings about the pleasure I took in this book because it covers a horrible topic. Yet the author took such care telling the stories of four slave women forced into sexual relationships with... Read Full Review

Dolen Perkins-Valdez delivers the gripping tale of primary characters, Lizzy, Reenie, Sweet and Mawu's, lives as slave maids and mistresses during the mid-19th century. Although from separate southern plantations, the mistresses vacation with their white masters to a free-state resort in Ohio each summer, forming a sisterly bond and developing relationships with each other. Suffering emotional, physical and sexual abuse at... Read Full Review