Preview
  • The House Girl

  • A Novel
  • By: Tara Conklin
  • Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
  • Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,251 ratings)

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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
Overall
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    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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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book

The horrific experience in the south, the atrocities visited upon people of color brought to this country against their will, is difficult to hear. theft of authorship is the focus of Lena's last case as a corporate attorney embedded in a case for restitution for ancestors of slaves. Genealogy is touched on but not delved into totally.

I could hardly put this down although I had to take breaks from the intensity. A good ending if you believe in the hereafter and the miracle of coincidences.

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

Wonderful story, Excellent narration!

This was a wonderfully told story with excellent structure and narrative. Bonnie Turpin made this story come alive as she does with everyone that she narrates. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about America’s true past, and how we are all ultimately connected.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The more I listened, the more I HAD to listen!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I did recommend it to my friends! I loved it, and couldn't wait until I could listen to the story again each day. As the story progresses, it grips you.

What other book might you compare The House Girl to and why?

It's a "slave" story, so it's comparable to lots of historical fiction stories featuring slaves. However, it has a different slant from others I've read, making it fresh and more thought provoking.

What does Bahni Turpin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I've enjoyed Bahni Turpin's narration ever since The Help came out, and her flexibility with dialects is good here, too.

If you could take any character from The House Girl out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Josephine -- I would want a firsthand look at her art!

Any additional comments?

I truly loved this story and was amazed at the lackluster reviews I read on this site. I'm really glad I didn't read them before I bought the audiobook! This is one of my favorites of recent memory!

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4 people found this helpful

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

Great Read

Loved It!! Narration was so animated that I could visualize everything going on. Story was perfect.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The Horrors of Slavery

The horrible days of slavery in the US is juxtaposed with a modern-day lawyer searching for decendents of a slave named Josephine. Lots of twists and turns in the life of both the slave girl and the lawyer as each tries to find her own kind of freedom. Interesting but not enthralling.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The house girl

The author makes you feel a part of the characters in the story. They become a part of you.

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