What readers think of The House Girl, plus links to write your own review.

This is a good average book with the parallel stories of Josephine Bell, a slave in 1852 Virginia and Lina Sparrow, an attorney working on a slavery class action case in 2004 New York. I could not connect with Lina's story, sometimes borderline Harlequin romance type of story, and honestly could not have care less. I would have been a great book if the author based her story on Josephine and only Josephine and people gravitating around her. Too many of characters stories were undeveloped and let me guessing.

The novel, The House Child by Tara Conklin, blends two compelling stories about a house slave and a young attorney in the early stages of her career: one from the nineteenth century, the other from the twenty-first. Lest you think that this makes it a predictable tale – it's not! The story deals with issues of a slave from a different angle, as the author weaves the lives of these two women together.

The plot is fresh and interesting with some twists I didn't see coming. It is well written. The author manages to keep the "voice" of her characters distinctive throughout the novel. There was none of the guessing about whom a passage was about. This frustration seems a more common reality in
fiction today. The author did a good job in the development of the characters and I wanted to know how it worked out -- It was an, okay, how about just a little more!

The book grabbed me before I finished the first chapter and held me captive until I finished the book! I think it would be a great choice for a book discussion group. It has the possibility of expanding one's view of the world today. I really enjoyed The House Child. I'll be watching for Ms Conklin's next tome.

I was very excited to receive a copy of The House Girl. I love reading these types of stories. The going back and forth of two eras was handled very well. I felt so sorry for Josephine, the slave girl, and was anxious to find out what happened to her. Lina, a smart corporate lawyer, in her mission of the reparations case and the art world was intricately woven all together and I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I would certainly recommend this book and look forward to the next one by this author.

The House Girl weaves the stories of Josephine, a young house slave in the 1850's and Lina, a hard working corporate lawyer. Lina is assigned to a case that would compensate African American descendants for the pain and suffering caused by slavery. Lina finds a descendant of a slave to be the plaintiff through her artist father. She discovers a collection of paintings by LuAnne Bell that may have actually been painted by her slave, Josephine. In the search for a descendant of Josephine, Lina learns about herself and questions her choices in life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction - I loved it!

The House Girl is a compelling story that interweaves two women from different eras and races. Making the character of Josephine a painter was a fascinating twist on the slavery story – as was having her paintings co-opted by her owner. The opposing modern day story with Lina as an attorney was also a insightful look into the legal world of reparation lawsuits. The twists and turns at the end brought the story full circle and I guess the only thing that I wish is that there was more of a conclusive ending.

I loved this story. I did not mind that the book was written in the present and in the past. I was always wondering what would happen next in either the past or the present. In the past, this is a story about a young girl who is trained as a house slave; in the present, this is a story about a young female lawyer who is helping to put together a case for reparations of descendents of slaves in the US. There are many stories being woven together to make this story; the author has done a fine job. However, there are too many coincidences, such as the lawyer's father is an artist; she accidentally meets a musician who turns out to be a possible descendent of the house slave; the lawyer collects a big piece of the puzzle in the form of a letter that has been hidden in a book. The history in this novel really makes it very interesting if you do not know much Civil War history; however that was one of my favorites parts of history in college which made this story all the more interesting----the buying and selling of slaves, the Underground Railroad--all a fascinating part of the South and our slave-owning past of the United States. This issue nearly tore apart our country. This novel is one of the best ways to learn about that past!

'The House Girl' takes place in two time periods, 2004 and 1852, and explores a legal case for reparations for slavery. The book took several chapters to really catch my interest as it laid out the foundation of the story. As the story progressed, however, my curiosity increased and I was unable to put the book down until I finished it.

The chapters smoothly flowed back and forth between the time periods, focusing on the staid young lawyer who was researching the reparations case in 2004 and the young slave girl in 1852. It wove together art and family secrets that occurred in both time periods, and both protagonists had to find their own identities. This was a very unique approach to the search for truth, and I enjoyed it very much. I would recommend this to book clubs!

The House Girl tells two stories, one about Josephine, a slave on the Bell plantation in Virginia in 1852 and the second about Lina, a lawyer with a major law firm in NYC that has been asked to assist a client with a historical reparations claim for descendants of slaves. At the same time, another legal issue emerges concerning a collection of paintings that have been attributed to Luanne Bell for years – an art critic comes forward to announce that the artist was Josephine, not her master. Lina searches for the truth about Josephine, trying to track down her descendants to see if they will be the plaintiffs in the reparations case.

The House Girl is about finding yourself and finding your history. It's about defining yourself on your own terms and not by how others. Most importantly is about love, regret and the need for justice. I thought this book was excellent debut novel, and I would definitely read another book by Conklin.