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Let's disucss part four of Wench here.

The author wrote a heart wrenching tale that gives us the perspective of enslaved women by their masters. It was hard to put the book down, I really enjoyed this book.

This is the last chapter of the book, wow a lot of surprises in this chapter. Lizzie finally realized that Drayle is not "her" man. Lizzie is strong and coming into her own. She has to be strong for her children. Lizzie and Fran almost bonded, well almost. For a moment I genuinely thought Fran cared about Lizzie. Reenie, Mawu, Sweet & Lizza were very strong characters.

In this chapter I cried again. I did get more insight about Fran and how she felt about Lizzie. Fran truly wanted to bear Drayle's children. That point alone eats at her.

Drayle just loves having the best of both worlds. I don't like Drayle and Lizzie realized she doesn't either. Drayle holds the children over Lizzie's head; I have to wonder about the idle threats he makes against them. Will he do harm to his own children?

Lizzie made a hard decision for her childrens sake. She will teach her daughter May to be strong. She too wants the very best for Nathan but she wishes Drayle would treat the children equally. I will end here for now, I don't want to give spoilers.

Part 4
I agree, a heart wrenching novel...
***SPOILER ALERT***
Two parts stood out for me. Lizzie telling Fran she aborted Drayle's baby. Again, Lizzie was being foolish, because that admission could have been deadly. But, I did like how Fran was stunned into silence and thought. The thing she most envied about Lizzie, was Not something that Lizzie treasured anymore, at all. There is a lesson about envy in this exchange.
#2 - Mawu getting caught. This devastated me... I cringe to think of Mawu's fate. And that she risked it all for Lizzie. And Lizzie doesn't even seem particularly upset either, more shocked. I was annoyed with Mawu too. Maya Angelou has a quote that goes "When people show/tell you who they are, believe them. The first time"... But Mawu's capture just haunted me...

This book made me think of the life of a slave women and their relationships. It reaffirmed for me, how horrific slavery was. Lizzie was a protagonist I never grew to like, but I did like the other women. I know she was young but gee whiz, Lizzie remained dangerously gullible throughout. Even Mawu said " always thinking about love" when she/Maru was trying to tell her about the way to freedom. I adored Phillip. A strong, honorable, smart brother. I was glad to see him free and happy. Reenie too! Mawu broke my heart and Lizzie remained consistently frustrating. At least she starts to see the truth about Drayle at the end.

It is amazing that this hideous resort was turned into a HBCU!!

Questions:
- What was Drayle's unfinished business of the last trip to the resort? Was it really about the school? Did I miss something?
- Why was Fran allowed to be there?

Rosa, I still don't know why Fran came along and wondered what Drayle's unfinished business was. Do you think it was to use Lizzie as a pawn to have the runaways to try to help her escape?

This was an eye opener for me, I still find it hard to believe that slave owners took their concubines on "vacation". Some vacation.

Lizzie was naive throughout, but she did gain some strength from the other women; strength she will need for her children's sake.

Why did Fran choose to tell Lizzie she was jealous of her while at the resort? Maybe she thought Lizzie was going to die?

Do you think the lady selling produce told on Mawu? Mawu was rude to her at times, her home was searched and she gave Lizzie the herbs to abort the baby. She wanted a baby and in fact wanted Lizzie's. It just seems weird that a year went by and they still searched for her. Mawu seemed to be the strongest but yet she was naive too for waiting for Lizzie.

Reenie & Phillip were very likeable characters.

I don't think Glory told because I got the impression that Mawu may have given her the herbs or something to get pregnant, but who knows... I think you may be on to something that Lizzie may have been used as a pawn to 'smoke out' Mawu. Since they left right after Mawu was caught. Hummm.... I guess like in real life, you just never know all the answers. Good book choice. There was a lot to think about, and a good way to honor the complicated lives of our sister ancestors during Black History Month.

Do you think Fran came along knowing that the resort was closing, maybe she wanted to see it once before it closed.

Ang, I'm not sure. Maybe she just wanted to see the place before it closed, maybe he let her come to keep an eye out on Lizzie... I don't know. Strange dynamics at work...

I bet you're right, to keep an eye on Lizzie sounds about right.

Part 4 was just strange for me. There were things that just didn't add up correctly. Why would Lizzie tell Fran that she was aborting the baby? I don't get it. Was Glory the one who turned Mawu in? I didn't like all of the unanswered questions. The last page seemed to be a quick tied up ending. It just didn't ring well. Frankly I was disappointed by the ending.

I too wondered if Glory turned Mawu in, I'm sure her husband didn't like their home being searched- or maybe Glory's husband turned her in!

Just finished up the book... I thought it was great! A few quick points, though...

Lizzie consistently did the opposite of what I wanted her to do... This made it very difficult for me to wrap my head around the character. Was she aggravating to anyone else?

Did anyone else pick up on the trend of self harm that Lizzie engaged in? I'd definitely say that this is worth some discussion...

Sweet's entire story just broke my heart... I wonder what really happened to her...

Yeah I wonder what happened to a lot of the characters. She left all of that wide open. A little disappointing.

Felicity wrote: "Just finished up the book... I thought it was great! A few quick points, though...

Lizzie consistently did the opposite of what I wanted her to do... This made it very difficult for me to wrap my ..."

My mouth dropped open when I realized I was at the end of part 4. I hoped there would be more of a wrap up for Lizzie and her kids. Throughout the book the author dropped hints that Fran could wear on Drayle causing him to change his mind about something. Maybe she wore him down. Mawu said she heard that the cabins would be searched soon. I suspect slavecatchers found her.

Felicity wrote: "Just finished up the book... I thought it was great! A few quick points, though...

Lizzie consistently did the opposite of what I wanted her to do... This made it very difficult for me to wrap my ..."

Self-harm related to her moles or something else?

Erika wrote: "Felicity wrote: "Just finished up the book... I thought it was great! A few quick points, though...

Lizzie consistently did the opposite of what I wanted her to do... This made it very difficult f..."


No, throughout the book, she (Lizzie) was biting herself and doing other things to make herself bleed. No one else noticed this?

Felicity, I didn't pick up on Lizzie's self-harm. Lizzie definitely has problems.

Felicity wrote: "Erika wrote: "Felicity wrote: "Just finished up the book... I thought it was great! A few quick points, though...

Lizzie consistently did the opposite of what I wanted her to do... This made it ve..."

You're right! I did notice that.

I finally finished this book and I didn't really like it. It seemed that it took forever for a "story" to be told. I understand the ladies going to the resort, hanging out, etc.., but it seemed that I was waiting and waiting for something to happen. The book got good at the middle to end of Part 3, and I couldn't put it down after that.

Lizzie is such a fool. She had several opportunities to leave, and she chose to stay. I guess it's important that she stay with her kids, but in the end she knows that even that is not enough. Nate is going to turn into a mini-Philip and who knows what will happen to Rabbit. I, too, do not know why she told Fran that she was aborting Drayle's baby. I also thought something bad was going to happen to her, but at times she wanted bad things to happen to herself, so.... I'm thinking that in some ways, she wants to stay for the kids, but in other ways, it seems she should have moved towards being free.

I'm glad Mawu's reason for sticking around for Lizzie was explained. You would have thought that Mawu would've gone on her merry little way without thinking about Lizzie after the betrayal, but once you heard the explanation it made more sense. I was really sad that she got caught. I think her capture was random. I don't think Glory would have told on her. Glory was their friend and on their side.

I did like Philip and was happy he was free. I also liked Sweet and wonder what happened to her as well. Her story was also quite sad.

I thought the writing was only ok. It seemed that the author skipped around too much for me and I didn't know where she was, or what the meaning of skipping around did for the story. I just kept reading and forgot about it after a while. I wouldn't recommend this book, but I'm glad we read it. Onto the next book!

onegirl glad you read it and hope the next book choice is more rewarding!

I agree with most of the commenters. The book seemed to end too quickly and everything wasn't wrapped up. What happened to Lizzie and her kids. I don't think that Glory turned Mawu in, but I am not sure how she was found. Was Drayle out looking for runaway slaves that last year? We'll never know. I enjoyed the book, but wished some of the loose ends were tied up.

Lisa glad you enjoyed the book.