Had you already guessed that Sarah was responsible for the acts she admits to?
Created: 09/18/13
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That was a surprise to me. There were quite a few parts in the book that I was sure showed me what was coming, but I was very surprised at how the story turned out. I think that was my favorite part of the book. Otherwise it would have been one more book about the time of slavery in the US.
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I was completely shocked. I didn't see it coming but it made perfect sense. The only clue would have been her absolute determination to end her pregnancy. She did so without any remorse as she had only one goal in life. That was the only clue to her true nature. In every other way she appeared to be nothing short of a devoted daughter, sister, aunt and wife.
Join Date: 10/16/10
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No - When she started to confess I thought it would just be about the abortion, and was shocked when she went on to talk about the other things she'd done. In retrospect I felt like I should have seen the revelations coming, but I sure didn't. I was actually proud of Sarah - "Good for you," I thought. The only thing that would have been better would have been having the people on whom she exacted revenge know about it.
Join Date: 04/15/11
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I had guessed that she was probably an instigator in Cornelius's rather sudden illness and demise. I did not catch that Isaac was the baby's father or that she had written bad paperwork for him. The fact that Isaac was the father made everyone else's actions at the birth more logical, but I didn't make the connection.
Join Date: 03/14/12
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I was very surprised at the ending. Honestly, I was impressed with how brave she was in an impossible situation. Not that I'm condoning murder, but you have to think back then it must have been a difficult way to live.
Join Date: 07/30/13
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I too was very surprised by the ending, if anything, I thought that she might have had something to do with Cornelius' death because of the way the author referred to her familiarity with herbal "remedies" throughout the book. Her revenge on Isaac and the fact that he was the baby's father caught me totally off-guard.
Join Date: 04/12/12
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I was surprised at the ending, it seemed a little too easy to wrap everything up. I thought her revenge on Isaac was out of character since he was a slave and I thought she would be more forgiving about that, but her taking care of Cornelius could have been possible. And the idea that Clarissa would be able to pull of the baby as white was shocking. If Clarissa was that conniving, why didn't she try to get away and get Sarah to help her. The whole thing was too mixed up. The more I think about it, the less I like the book.
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I was completely surprised that she poisoned Cornelius. Was the paper that Theodora found on his desk and burned the document the same document to which Sarah referred that revoked the freedom that Cornelius promised to Emmeline? I thought everyone's reaction to the birth was because it was a full term baby and not a premature one. The fact that it it was not white was a huge surprise. It does explain why Cornelius was so callous toward her and refused to call a doctor. Sarah's decision to end her pregnancy because it interfered with her plans to escape shows her determination, but I never saw wicked revenge as one of her character traits.
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I guess I am so naive that I didn't guess any relationship between Clarissa and Isaac. No wonder Julius turned away the baby. I at first thought that might be what they saw but it was not mentioned that there were any black features so I put the thought aside. Then I do remember the part about Sarah having to take away some papers from the desk of Cornelius right before she left but I had no ideas about the fact that she had taken his change of will. Very surprising developments at the end but I certainly think Sarah was justified in her choices.
Join Date: 08/11/13
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I had no idea about Clarissa and Isaac I thought Clarissa had been seeing Mr.Evans on the sly and got pregnant. I never realized just how much hatred Sarah had for Cornelius but she had heard the many times that he physically hit Miss Theodora,treated her mother and in the end Clarissa died because Cornelius would not send for a doctor so to make sure these things would never happen again Sarah murdered him, but I did not see it coming but made for a great ending !!!
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The ending took me completely by surprise but right from the beginning I saw the strength in Sarah in her reactions to things done to her mother and sister. The book was based on a true story and I would really like to know the story behind it.
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I had no idea what about to be revealed at the end of the book. I assumed that Mr. Evans was the baby's father. The extreme reaction of the Grandmother and Grandfather then made sense. Until the father was revealed at the end of the book, I thought the Grandmother was hysterical over seeing her daughter deliver her baby early when it was obviously a full term baby. Re Cornelius- Sarah did say that she would get even- and Cornelius did get his just desserts!!
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