Trish Osuch is the Web Content Manager for House of Anansi Press and Groundwood Books. Through that role, she’s been a Friend of Salty Ink since day one, a pleasure to deal with, and quick to earn its respect for her taste in, and passion for books. It made her a perfect fit as Salty Ink’s Reader in Residence. She’ll occasionally pepper Salty Ink with a different point of view, and help fill in the gender and content gaps of a one-man operation.
Linda Spalding’s excellent historical novel The Purchase opens with Daniel Dickinson transporting his family to Virginia, despondent after the death of his wife. His quick re-marriage to teenage Methodist Ruth has resulted in the family’s ousting from the Quaker community, and relocation to Virginia becomes the only option. Unfortunately the family has little experience homesteading and quickly learns the hardships of a pioneer lifestyle. The children can no longer go to school, they live in a lean-to, and food and warmth are hard to come by.
Have I lost you yet? I hope not. Although this may not sound like the most thrilling premise — Quakers, I mean — this book takes a turn with the titular “purchase” of a young slave boy. I won’t reveal much more because of the suspenseful nature of this book, but know that the lives of this family are forever changed. Linda Spalding is a wonderful writer, and keeps the plot clipping along while setting a menacing, dark, and brooding tone. Her characters are fully realized and while the language she uses can be formal and somewhat distanced, I felt very involved with several of the characters. The eldest daughter Mary and her profound friendship with slave and healer Bett was particularly captivating, and Ruth’s growth — or lack thereof — from teenage runaway to wife and mother was strange and compelling.
I could tell Spalding did a tremendous amount of research to tell this story, but it is ultimately a very human one about the characters and the choices they make. While it wasn’t my favourite historical setting for a novel, I heartily recommend it for the way it is crafted with absolute skill and beauty.
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Trish Osuch is the Web Content Manager for House of Anansi Press and Groundwood Books. Connect with her on Twitter @trishosuch.
