Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen
Grissom
Jaime Pyke has established himself as a successful silversmith
in Philadelphia, but his world is about to come crashing down around him. His servant Pan has gone missing, mostly
likely taken by slavers on the docks and Pan’s father is begging Jaime to go
get him back. For Jaime this is a
difficult request for although he looks white, his mother was a former slave
and he knows that there could still be slavers hunting for him down south. But how can he leave Pan to suffer as a
slave? On the other hand things are
looking really bad for Jaime in Philadelphia right now; he has to get out of the
city and fleeing south with purpose might be the best thing he could do.
Fans of the The Kitchen House will be thrilled to read
about characters from that book again, but this novel works really well as a
standalone. I couldn’t really remember
some characters, but that was fine, the author wrote as if they were new
characters the reader was meeting for the first time.
I’ve read a number of historical fiction books taking place
during the time of slavery, but this was the first book I’ve read of the
struggle of a person who could pass as white living under constant fear that
his parentage would be revealed since his secret is know by a few people in the
area. The society of “free” Philadelphia
wasn’t that kind to former slaves no matter the shade of their skin.
It’s an enlightening view of the times, especially how
treacherous the lives of former slaves in free areas still were, and the
workings of the Underground Railroad.
