• The House Girl

  • A Novel
  • By: Tara Conklin
  • Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
  • Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,239 ratings)

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The House Girl  By  cover art

The House Girl

By: Tara Conklin
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
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Publisher's summary

Two remarkable women, separated by more than a century, whose lives unexpectedly intertwine....

The year is 2004: Lina Sparrow is an ambitious young lawyer working on a historic class-action lawsuit seeking reparations for the descendants of American slaves.

The year is 1852: Josephine is a 17-year-old house slave who tends to the mistress of a Virginia tobacco farm - an aspiring artist named Lu Anne Bell.

It is through her father, renowned artist Oscar Sparrow, that Lina discovers a controversy rocking the art world: Art historians now suspect that the revered paintings of Lu Anne Bell, an antebellum artist known for her humanizing portraits of the slaves who worked her Virginia tobacco farm, were actually the work of her house slave, Josephine.

A descendant of Josephine's would be the perfect face for the lawsuit - if Lina can find one. But nothing is known about Josephine's fate following Lu Anne Bell's death in 1852. In piecing together Josephine's story, Lina embarks on a journey that will lead her to question her own life, including the full story of her mother's mysterious death 20 years before.

Alternating between antebellum Virginia and modern-day New York, this searing tale of art and history, love, and secrets explores what it means to repair a wrong, and asks whether truth can be more important than justice.

©2013 Tara Conklin (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The House Girl

Average customer ratings
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    4 out of 5 stars

Touching

very Effective storylines. Fantastic narration. The characters really come to life in the past and the present.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Balanced work of art

Kudos to the author for moving effortlessly between current day storylines and the 1800s. The parallel stories work well together. There are times when the details seem to drag on too long; just unnecessary. However, the writer brings the story back with force and direction. Overall, a great body of work with relevance for 2019 and the ADOS reparations movement.

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The house Girl

This story was first confusing for me. However after continuing to listen, I found myself really into the story. The story is well written and brilliantly colorful and funny it’s a really good book.
A really good read.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Reparations

Ms Conklin uses several voices to trace ancestry from a slave girl. Each one adds a layer of history and modern times. People are people and art is art.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Turpin chooses great stories and does them justice

What did you love best about The House Girl?

I love stories from this time period, as well as stories that switch back and forth between historical and contemporary. This book was truly enjoyable. A little dark, but that was expected.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping

A very easy read-one not easy to put down. The story line is enthrall inc and the characters make you put yourself right into the book.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Meh.

It's a fine story. A bit predictable for my taste. Wished for a twist or some conflict.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Predictable

I commend the author on her first novel. I admired the rich descriptive sentences and paragraphs. Sadly, once the basic story line was laid out, I knew it would develop. There were surprises here and there, but nothing special.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Tara Conklin and Bahni Turpin #Team Everything

This is the first book by Tara Conklin I have ever listened to/read. Bahni Turpin is one of my favorite narrators and I chose the book because of her. This was an excellent story going back and forth from the present to the past. It kept me engaged and sitting on the edge of my chair. Y Ms. Cochran. Will look for some more of your works.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great storytelling

Thank you for the excellent narration. This was a great story. I loved the weaving back and forth from the past with Josephine and present day with Lina. I didn’t want it to end.
I hope someday the descendants of slaves get their reparations and apology that is so deserved.

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