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The Wedding Gift, by Marlen Suyapa Bodden
Ebook The Wedding Gift, by Marlen Suyapa Bodden
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In 1852, when prestigious Alabama plantation owner Cornelius Allen gives his daughter Clarissa's hand in marriage, she takes with her a gift: Sarah—her slave and her half-sister. Raised by an educated mother, Clarissa is not the proper Southern belle she appears to be, with ambitions of loving whom she chooses. Sarah equally hides behind the façade of being a docile house slave as she plots to escape. Both women bring these tumultuous secrets and desires with them to their new home, igniting events that spiral into a tale beyond what you ever imagined possible. Told through the alternating viewpoints of Sarah and Theodora Allen, Cornelius' wife, Marlen Suyapa Bodden's The Wedding Gift is an intimate portrait of slavery and the 19th Century South that will leave readers breathless.
- Sales Rank: #91352 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-09-24
- Released on: 2013-09-24
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly
In this stunning debut, Marlen Suyapa Bodden effortlessly transports the reader to 1852 Alabama, where slavery and racism may rule the day, but everything isn't as black and white as it may seem. Sixteen-year-old Sarah Campbell is a housemaid to her half-sister Clarissa. Both daughters of plantation owner Mr. Allen, they secretly reject the roles they are expected to play. Sarah yearns for the day when she can escape slavery, while Clarissa is disinterested in her father's wishes for her to marry young and become mistress of her own plantation. But then Clarissa unexpectedly becomes pregnant before she's wed-changing the trajectory of both girls' lives. Bodden weaves a page-turning tangled web of misogyny, greed, scandal and violence in this powerful story about races colliding against the backdrop of America's darkest era.
From Booklist
In her first novel, lawyer Bodden draws on an immense amount of historical knowledge to present a tale about life in pre–Civil War Alabama that is as educational as it is compelling. Clarissa is the legitimate daughter of Cornelius Allen, a wealthy plantation owner. Sarah is also Allen’s daughter, the product of his long-standing extramarital affair with Emmeline, his beautiful house slave. Sarah narrates the novel in turns with Theodora, Allen’s wife, who is frustrated by her own lack of agency. Theodora secretly teaches Sarah to read and write, sharpening Sarah’s hunger for liberty. When flippant Clarissa gets married, Sarah is given to her as a gift, sparking events that upend life at the Allen plantation. Bodden writes with delicacy, allowing layers of meaning to unfold slowly, and her portrayal of the horrors of slave life is both unflinching and purposeful. The connections developed between Clarissa and Sarah illustrate the complex sorrows of tyranny, and the ecstasy of triumphing over oppression. An inspiring read for historical-fiction fans, especially those who like strong female narrators. --Amber Peckham
Review
"In this stunning debut, Marlen Suyapa Bodden effortlessly transports the reader to 1852 Alabama, where slavery and racism may rule the day, but everything isn't as black and white as it may seem...Bodden weaves a page-turning tangled web of misogyny, greed, scandal and violence in this powerful story about races colliding against the backdrop of America's darkest era." --PW Starred Review
“If I were you, I wouldn’t make any plans for the rest of the day. You have in your hands a story of the tangled motives and self-destructive passions when whites and blacks became this close during the time of slavery—all told at a pell mell pace.”—Tom Wolfe, New York Times bestselling and Award-winning author of Back to Blood
“Bodden wraps some of the most complex issues facing the world today, slavery, racism, misogyny, and violence in an unflinching tall tale about an American family that is black and white. This compelling and fierce historical novel, where the slave master gives his white daughter his black daughter as a wedding gift, is set in the big house of a wealthy plantation before the Civil War and is based on a court case from the 1840s in Talladega, Alabama.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
“Fascinating, intriguing—a great story!” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House
“The WEDDING GIFT is powerful and absorbing. Ms. Bodden’s story-telling skills are on fine display in this intricately-plotted novel as she unflinchingly transports the reader to the most tragic, brutal time in the country’s past. The characters are exceptionally well-rendered; the sense of who they are lingers beyond the last page. The author astutely captures the complexities of the relationships--especially between the enslaved black women and the oppressed white women. Also masterfully captured here is the boundless quest to live fully free.” —Diane McKinney-Whetstone, author of Tumbling
"The strength of the novel is its slave narrative tone and its ability to demonstrate the pain of being owned by another human being. Many have heard of slavery; few know this story. It's too important to overlook." —Daniel Black, author of Twelve Gates to the City
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Two Sides of American Slavery
By Amazon Customer
This is the story of two women; Sarah Campbell and Theodora Allen. Sarah was born in 1846, a slave at the Allen Estates. Theodora Allen married Cornelius, the master of the plantation. Sarah is also the bastard daughter of Cornelius, half sister to Theodora's Clarissa. Sarah's mother Emmeline only goes to Cornelius' bed to ensure her children will stay on the plantation. Despite the feeling of betrayal, Theodora comes to care for both Emmeline and Sarah, especially since Sarah is not only Clarissa's maid, but also her childhood companion, as well as one of the gifts that Cornelius gives Clarissa when she gets married. This is "The Wedding Gift" by Marlene Suyapa Bodden.
Told in alternating first-person narratives, that slightly backtrack in time between chapters, this novel unfolds while looking at two sides of the same story. On the one hand we have the perspective of the slave women Sarah. On the other we have the confidences of the plantation owner's wife Theodora. More importantly, we also see how these two women interact with each other as well as their relationships to their own families, and each others' families. In other words, these are the stories of one woman and her daughter, and one daughter and her mother.
There are many stories about slavery before the American Civil War. This one is somewhat out of the ordinary in that we get parallel versions of the tale from both sides of the story - from the slave and from her owner. What I found most interesting was that in many ways, the owner Theodora was as much of a slave as Sarah. She was equally subject to the will of her husband as were her slaves. The difference was that Cornelius couldn't sell her if she disobeyed him. Also, in some ways Sarah was freer than Theodora because Sarah always could attempt to escape. If Sarah was successful, she could start a new life elsewhere, where she be welcomed and accepted. On the other hand, as long as Cornelius was alive, Theodora could go nowhere without scandal and shame following her.
It also occurred to me that this is more a story about relationships between mothers and their daughters, as well as vice versa, than it is about slavery. To what lengths will a mother go to help her child, or a daughter go to care for her mother? All these aspects are very well covered in this novel through the two narratives. In addition, despite Sarah's unusual literacy, the two women's voices are distinctive enough to easily distinguish between them.
With all of this, one might think that the story would be extremely gripping. In fact, throughout most of the book, we are swept along with these tales. However, as we near the end, parts of the narrative became technical and stilted. In some ways, from a certain point on, I felt like I was getting more lessons in legal, geographical and historical matters than I was following the stories of these two women. And while the conclusion of the novel came with an unexpected twist, by that time I was already becoming less invested in the outcomes of these women's stories. Moreover, this twist also felt a bit too out of the blue, and slightly inconsistent with the character. This isn't to say that I would have preferred an ending that came to a happier conclusion, but I would have liked it to be a bit more cohesive with the rest of the tale.
Marlene Suyapa Bodden gives us a gently written story that unfolds elegantly along one of America's darkest areas of its history. She holds little back describing some of these horrors, but also reminds us of the kindnesses of those who rejected slavery. Together with this, she gives us food for thought about the essence of freedom, and a woman's role in society and family. While this was an enjoyable read for the most part, I was less than enamored with the content and tone of the end of the book. For this, I feel "The Wedding Gift" deserves three stars out of five.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Not terrible, but seems a lot of deja vu
By D. Williams
THE WEDDING GIFT is a novel set in 1852 Alabama, told in the first-person point of view through the eyes of Sarah Campbell, a slave, and Theodora Allen, her mistress. There are short periods where this tale is told from the point of view of the Allens’ daughter Clarissa. Sarah is actually the daughter of Theodora’s husband, the plantation master.
This perspective adds something to this novel because readers see the racism and misogyny of the times. The slaves are chattel; they aren’t even legally supposed to gain any education at all. White women are treated almost as badly; they must tolerate infidelity and abuse from the very ones who are supposed to love them.
With this in mind, this novel does have strong language, sexuality, alcohol and drug (laudanum) use and violence; I give it my usual phrase of “for sophisticated older teens and up” because of that.
This novel does need some work with character development. Sarah’s character is well-handled; some readers may be bothered by the fact that she doesn’t understand that slavery is bad, but it is all she’s ever known. Because Theodora Allen has allowed Sarah to be in the room when Clarissa is taking her lessons, Sarah is more educated than most Blacks of her time.
However, the other characters seem rather “wooden.” Readers of fiction set in this time period have seen these character types – the long-suffering but benevolent plantation mistress who prefers to refer to the people who work for her as “servants” rather than “slaves”; the overindulgent (in alcohol and women) master who seems to care little about those he’s supposed to love but so much about his family’s outward reputation and his business; the spoiled but troubled daughter – before.
Though this work could use some improvement, particularly in the characterization, it is Boden’s first published work, and I grant her some credit there. I’ll look for more of this author’s works to see if experience grants improvement.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A story of slavery unlike any others I have read
By PT Cruiser
Although I've read a lot of articles and books about slavery over the years, I don't think anything I've read put me into the shoes of a woman who was a slave in such a disturbing way as Marlen Suyapa Bodden does in this book. It made me feel the resignation and hopelessness of most of the slaves, even though Sarah Campbell, one of the main characters, had hopes of someday escaping the plantation. The story was both emotionally difficult to read in parts and filled with determination and hope in others. Bodden did a very good job of making her characters seem real and showing the story from two different points of view, that of Sarah Campbell, a young woman who is a slave, and Theodora Allen, the wife of the plantation owner for whom Sarah works.
The owner of the plantation, Cornelius Allen, is not only very heartless toward most of the slaves, he also treats his own wife, Theodora very poorly. Although she has a lot of money to do spend on the home and clothing for herself and her daughter, she doesn't have much more freedom than the slaves who work for them. The story also is a study in how corrupt those in power can become, both in their personal estates and in politics. It's easy to see in this story how ingrained slavery is during this period and the obstacles that had to be overcome to get out of it. Bodden illustrated in very stark terms what it was like to be "owned" by another person or persons. Sarah was given to the master's daughter, who she grew up with while her mother was a cook for the plantation, when she got married. And it was all so matter of fact that this was the way it would be.
This book had me staying up late at night to read "just a few more pages", sometimes just to leave the story on a more hopeful page. I was surprised that this is Bodden's first novel. Her writing was that of a much more seasoned author. I hope she'll be writing more.
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