Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

I recently picked up a copy of a debut novel called WENCH by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Dolen had actually sent me an email about her book way back in October, and I'd been eagerly anticipating it ever since. It did not disappoint. Here's a little teaser from the front flap: 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. 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. In her debut novel, Perkins-Valdez takes the reader on a journey into a period of American history that is of...