👶👶👶 The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom

This was a deeply depressing book. In fact, I found myself attempting to detach from any new characters, knowing that it would only cause me pain. To that end, I felt as though the author gave the characters very few wins, which in a topic such as this, would've helped the reader along and been better able to steer clear of repetitive drama. That, coupled with the fact that the protagonist was so weak and naive throughout the entire novel, made the contents of the book hard to digest.

Because of my frustration with Lavinia's helplessness, I could not hold willing suspension of belief during her narration. There were just too many opportunities for her to grasp what was going on around her and take action (especially because she grew up around such harsh realities), and yet at each turn, she never clued in, so it left me frustrated.

I also found it interesting that despite all of the servants having an accent in the book, Lavinia, who'd just come directly from Ireland, never had an Irish lilt in her accent.

The major plot twists were easy to foresee, though I give the author credit for throwing in a few minor twists that were surprising. Also, there were SO many characters thrown into the mix, that it did get confusing at times, especially since it was done in an overly summative manner.

On a positive note, the characters were well-written, and the book was never a bore... I always wanted to know what was to happen to the characters. I felt utter compassion for them all, at one point or another. Unfortunately, there were several questions left unanswered, and I was disappointed that the ending was so abrupt... what a shame.

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