Rating: 5/5 stars

Category: YA, Romance, Historical

Publisher: Penguin random house children’s UK

Publication date: 2^nd February 2023

Pages: 316

Trigger: Racism, violence, racial motivated violence, brutality

Hello Readers, welcome back to my blog.

It is the month for love and celebrating black history month. In honour of this, I present to you a story that represents both romance and black history – enjoy!!!

SYNOPSIS

The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now it’s 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love—even where they’re not supposed to.

There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married . . . until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love—unless it’s with her sister’s suitor. Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business—and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen’s brother, John. But Olivia’s best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can’t seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers.

Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, The Davenports is the tale of four determined and passionate young Black women discovering the courage to steer their own path in life—and love.

Review                                              

This story is written at the turn of the century when slavery is not so much a thing of the past and the idea of segregation is starting to creep in. The Davenports are a rare family in the society, being a black high class family with wealth and social standing. We read from the perspective of the children and some characters linked to them. They have different demands as they face different circumstances in a society that wants to cage them. Four couples are paired at the beginning but they all seem wrong for each other because they have been matched for reasons that are not as important as love. It’s a difficult decision, especially when convenience will keep you safe but love might be dangerous to your life.

I gave the story 5 out of 5 stars. It was almost a tear jerker but I managed to hold it in. The Davenport’s children and their best friend, go through ups and downs in their love life and in society trying to find a place for themselves. Ruby was the only character who had any hope of a resolution but even that crashed and burned. I can’t wait to read the second book and see how the Davenports rescue their love life. The story seemed to be a standalone, until the end when you realise that, nope the author is not going to wrap it up in a nice bow. The story and the characters end in a mess as life often does. I can’t imagine living in that uncertain time of the 1900s and it pains me that people of colour still face a lot of the issues that were ongoing in the 1900s. We’ve made a lot of progress but there is so much more to be done and changed in society.

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