Discuss The Kitchen House on 8/17 over interesting whites and roses at Lisa’s

Book - The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
Wine - a favorite, white wine, other than Chardonnay, or a rosé
Location - Lisa’s house in Coatesville. I will send the address via email as we get closer. Please plan to bring some kind of food to share (not dessert) or you can donate money to a large dessert tray on order from the Collegeville Bakery.

Hello all!

As this will be the last meetup of this group, I thought we’d end with the book that started it all. Only a few of us have already discussed it.

I will update with the location ASAP, and depending on where that is, we may even start a tiny bit earlier. Bring an interesting white wine to share. Get creative, there are all kinds of white wines that are not Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.

The Kitchen House
Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of the highly anticipated Glory Over Everything, established herself as a remarkable new talent with The Kitchen House, now a contemporary classic. In this gripping novel, a dark secret threatens to expose the best and worst in everyone tied to the estate at a thriving plantation in Virginia in the decades before the Civil War.

Orphaned during her passage from Ireland, young, white Lavinia arrives on the steps of the kitchen house and is placed, as an indentured servant, under the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate slave daughter. Lavinia learns to cook, clean, and serve food, while guided by the quiet strength and love of her new family.

In time, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, caring for the master’s opium-addicted wife and befriending his dangerous yet protective son. She attempts to straddle the worlds of the kitchen and big house, but her skin color will forever set her apart from Belle and the other slaves.

Through the unique eyes of Lavinia and Belle, Grissom’s debut novel unfolds in a heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful story of class, race, dignity, deep-buried secrets, and familial bonds.