The House Girl – Tara Conklin

I wasn’t kidding about my going through phases – after a long list of YA and middle grade books, I have a couple historical fiction reviews coming.

I found The House Girl by Tara Conklin on Goodreads. I was a little wary for a while. Sometimes you’re reading for escapism and you don’t want to deal with heavy social issues. But a couple weeks ago the eBook went on sale through HarperCollins Bookperks and figured it was time to pick it up.

This book alternates narration between Lina (a New York lawyer looking for a slave reparations plaintiff), Josephine Bell (a slave who may or may not be a famous artist), and Dorothea (daughter of an underground railroad conductor). Their stories are woven together throughout the book. Lina’s artist father introduces her to Lu Ann Bell’s art, which may actually be Josephine’s. In her research, Lina finds Dorothea’s letters to her sister describing a runaway slave whom Lina believes to be Josephine. The story is layered and complex, and many issues of the legacy of slavery are explored.

The first three-quarters or so of this book I loved.The characters are built beautifully. Lina’s relationship with her father is at times tender and tense. Josephine’s feelings for LuAnn are torturous. Dorothea is captivating as she realizes the depth of her convictions. The ending of the book, though, left much to be desired.

SPOILERS BELOW

In a twist I saw coming from a mile away, Lina’s mother is not dead: she actually left the family when Lina was a toddler. This bombshell is dropped in the middle of Lina and Oscar finally talking about her mother in depth for the first time since she “died.” But then, the book doesn’t really go anywhere with it. There’s a little bit of Lina being shocked, but beyond that there’s nothing. This woman just found out her mother was alive and wanted to contact her, and had little reaction. Similarly, Lina and Oscar have a complicated relationship through the book, where they are close yet Lina knows little of his life outside of her. Their relationship evolves throughout the book and matures but then at a turning point is just left to sit.

I feel the characters in this book deserve more. Does the world know that the paintings were Josephine’s? What happens to Lina’s relationship with her parents? There are too many loose ends. Loose ends can be done well: Lina’s career after leaving the firm is a loose end that is done well. These just feel like the author for some reason didn’t want to give resolution.