The Wedding Gift

Hello all and thank you for tuning in to my book review blog! 

Today I will be reviewing the novel "The Wedding Gift" by Marlen Suyapa Bodden (read on my Kindle prior to it being taken off of the Amazon Kindle site). Many, if not all, of the books that I will be reviewing are read and available on the Amazon Kindle, to which I will add a link at the end of each review if you would like to purchase the book (hopefully I can help spread the word about some amazing hidden gems!).

Book Title: The Wedding Gift
Author: Marlen Suyapa Bodden
4 out of 5 Stars

"The Wedding Gift" is a book that takes place in the American south during the time of Slavery. The book is written in two point of views-- Mrs. Theodora Allen, the wife of a wealthy plantation owner Cornelius Allen; and Sarah, one of the slaves on Mr. Allen's plantation who is also a child of Mr. Allen's. This book exposes the raw brutality of slavery and the less talked about infidelity of husbands with their (often unwilling) slave women. 

Theodora has a daughter, Clarissa, who is very close in age to Sarah, and knowing that Cornelius is Sarah's father, Theodora decides to teach both girls how to read and write-- risking everything as it is illegal to teach a slave to write. The girls grow up together, and remain close, and Sarah is taught to be Clarissa's maid. Clarissa is made to marry Mr. Cromwell, a man whom is neither respectable nor charming but very very rich, and prior to the wedding it is discovered that Clarissa is pregnant. Sarah, being raised to be Clarissa's maid is sent with her as a wedding gift. 

Meanwhile, Sarah's mother is made to go "lay with Mr. Allen" every night even though she loathes it, and when she finally stands up for herself Sarah's sister Belle is sold to another plantation.

I don't want to ruin the book for those of you out there wanting to read it, so I will stop the plot synopsis here. Having said that I give the book 4 out of 5 stars. 

The novel is one you will have trouble putting down, the plot picks up from the first chapter with very few slow spots. It also will make you feel, even if you are from the south like me, angry at the south and at the plantation owners. I have always learned about, and felt angry that slavery ever existed in the first place, but most people dont consider the grueling day to day lives of the slaves. Being whipped in front of everyone and not allowed to leave the property was only the beginning of the suffering. Women were forced to attend to the white men's sexual needs among other things. At one point in the book someone tells Theodora that wives are for having children and the slave women are for satisfying their deviant needs-- this is something that literally made me sick when I read it.

The book also evoked such a strong emotion of pride in the character Sarah. I became so attached to her while reading this that I truly felt like I knew her. Without saying too much, she uses her mind to get out of her situation (very cryptic I know), and when she does, you feel almost smug. Sarah's mother Emmeline was also a strong character, but strong in a different way-- she was more calm and her perseverance ends up saving her-- but the author gave them enough similar traits so that you could see each one in the other. Theodora is another strong woman portrayed in the book, someone you expect the hate from page one because she too was a slave owner, but someone who is so complex and so easily liked. She respects everyone, slaves included, which makes her husband all the more... unrespectable. In a nutshell, the character development was fantastic. The bond and the depth of each character is truly a work of art.

So, having said all of these good things about this awesome book, I will reveal the reason it didn't get the coveted fifth star: the ending.

Okay SPOILER ALERT! For those who would like to read the spoiler and more in depth review on the ending click here: http://bookobsessedreader.blogspot.com/p/spoilers-page.html

My first issue with the ending was that the timing made me so sad. This is perhaps not something I should fault the author for, because lets be honest, life doesnt always have good timing.

My only other issue with the ending, is that while I understand that some books like to leave you with a jaw dropped, this one tried for the jaw dropper but just felt hasty. 

Overall this is a fantastic book. I wish it was still available on Kindle for those of you who are bookies like myself and obsessed with amazon, but here is a link to the page where you can purchase a print copy. http://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Gift-Marlen-Suyapa-Bodden/dp/1439255830/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339979218&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wedding+gift

Thanks for reading my first review everyone! And feel free to comment if you feel I missed anything, good or bad!