NIGHT WHEREVER WE GO by Tracey Rose Peyton

Six women slaves of varying backgrounds live on a Texas farm that is struggling to make a profit.  Next to the land itself, these women are the most valuable proper that the Lucys own.  Lucy is not their actual surname, but it is the one assigned by the slave women because they associate their devilish owners with Lucifer.  Lashes may be the most frequent punishment, but that does not compare to the anguish they experience over separation from their loved ones.  One woman is in love with a slave on a neighboring plantation, and one hopes to visit her children on a steamboat trip with Mrs. Lucy.  One has a teenage son, also owned by the Lucys, but the other women expect never to see their families again. In order to expand their workforce, the Lucys bring in a slave whose only job is to impregnate the women, but they go to some lengths to thwart this plan.  The problem with this book is that it doesn’t really seem to go anywhere until we get to the very rushed and not entirely clear ending.  I felt so puzzled, let down, and frustrated that I regretted having ever started reading this book.  Inside the dust jacket the blurb has this headline:  “A gripping, radically intimate debut novel about a group of enslaved women staging a covert rebellion against their owners.”  This description is entirely misleading, as it implies more action than actually takes place.