''Property'' is a 2003 novel by American writer

Valerie Martin Valerie Martin (née Metcalf; born March 14, 1948) is an American novelist and short story writer. Her novel ''Property'' (2003) won the Orange Prize for Fiction. In 2012, ''The Observer'' named ''Property'' as one of "The 10 best historical n ...

. In 2003, it won the

Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

, and in 2012, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' named ''Property'' as one of "The 10 best historical novels".

Plot summary

The book is set on a

sugar plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacc ...

near

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in 1828, and tells the story of Manon Gaudet, the wife of the plantation's owner, and Sarah, the slave Manon was given as a wedding present and who she has brought with her from the city. The story is centred on Manon and her resentment of Sarah. Sarah is not only Manon's slave, but also her husband's sex slave. The private drama of the estate is played out against the backdrop of civil unrest and slave rebellion.

Critical analyses

* Tim A. Ryan, "Mammy and Scarlett Done Gone: Complications of the Contemporary Novel of Slavery, 1986-2003." ''Calls and Responses: The American Novel of Slavery Since Gone with the Wind''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2008: 149-84.

References

{{reflist 2003 American novels Novels by Valerie Martin Novels about American slavery Novels set in Louisiana Women's Prize for Fiction–winning works Fiction set in 1828 Doubleday (publisher) books Novels set in the 1820s