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Fictional Drama
1800s
US
“A story of redemption and unconventional love. Leighlin
Plantation offers Edward Ketch a new life, an opportunity to forsake his
violent, troubled past and become a man worthy of respect and trust. But when a
slave named Isabelle arrives, Ketch is drawn into a turbulent relationship that
threatens the very peace he has struggled to attain. Isabelle has her own
desires for a fresh start, but scurrilous gossip about her past undermines
those hopes. She struggles to be accepted by Leighlin’s other slaves and hopes
marriage to a popular man will aid her cause. But her situation worsens when
her husband becomes abusive. She discovers, however, one unlikely ally—Ketch,
who is as much an outcast among Leighlin’s white population as she is among her
people. A stranger to love, Ketch cannot recognize the true feelings that draw
him to IsabelleTo rescue her from the dangers of her marriage, he risks losing
not only his position at Leighlin but the affections of the woman he strives to
save.
Set against the backdrop of 17th century Carolina,
The Driver’s Wife explores the lives and relationships, from Big House to slave
settlement, of those who labored upon the wilderness plantations near Charles
Town. Rice cultivation and the task system of slavery provide a much different landscape
from the aristocratic Old South of cotton plantations and gang labor familiar
to most modern-day readers. The Driver’s Wife is a tale of the transcendent
power of love.”
Novels about slavery are often difficult to write
and read because of the emotional stirring that the subject invokes. Slavery,
to us in the modern age, is utterly abhorrent but the past regarded it –
especially the African slave trade – as normal and acceptable. To write a novel
where the facts prevail over modern 'Political Correctness' without
producing any over-emphasis of condemnation or indignation of the Trade is
quite a feat.
The author of The Driver’s Wife has managed
the difficulties very well indeed. The main character, Ketch, is possibly,
initially, one of the most unlikable characters to be met in the pages of a
novel – and yet, as we get to know his background and his past the opinion of
him begins to change.
The heroine is Isabelle, a slave traumatised by an act of rape and rejection because of her mixed race. She is believable and likeable. Other characters are as intriguing and the descriptions of the Colonial South, Carolina, are very well written.
The heroine is Isabelle, a slave traumatised by an act of rape and rejection because of her mixed race. She is believable and likeable. Other characters are as intriguing and the descriptions of the Colonial South, Carolina, are very well written.
The novel takes the reader into the lives of
characters who could well have been real people, exploring relationships, love,
fear, hope and despair with a well-crafted talent. Alongside the
characterisation is the author’s descriptive writing that takes the
reader into the past and brings everything alive: I felt the heat from the sun beating down on the plantation, felt the sweat upon my skin, the coolness of the evening, the hard, hard non-escapable tiring, daily work of those slaves...
Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds
© Anne Holt
e-version reviewed
One of Susan's best I think.
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