Apparently this is the second time I've read this book and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Characters could have been developed more, they dynamics between indentured servant vs. slave could have been evolved more - Lavinia's conflict of being white but raised within a black slave culture could have been more truer to the climate of the time. Something that I don't like that runs in books that deal with slavery written by white authors, is this always welcoming spirit of the slave. That despite their situation they were always welcoming and taking in despite their issues. When you read slave narratives, stories from actual slaves, I can say that isn't what I hear from their voice. I hear the struggle, the constant fear, the constant desire to maintain close relationships with family that is constantly being stripped. Hopefully I won't forget again that I've read this and find myself reading it again, not because it's so good but because I forget the characters and the plot summary reads better than the actual story.