The Price of a Child: A Novel : Cary, Lorene: Amazon.com.au: Books
The Price of a Child: A Novel : Cary, Lorene: Amazon.com.au: Books
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The Price of a Child: A Novel Paperback – 26 January 1996
by Lorene Cary (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (105)
With Price of a Child--the story of Ginnie Pryor (cook, mistress and servant to a Virginia planter) and her struggle with slavery in 1855--Cary continues has created a work that elevates the reputation she created with Black Ice, her memoir which won her comparisons to Maya Angelou and Richard Wright. In a novel that examines the price of freedom and the value of a child's life, Price of a Child is "a stunning achievement...a deeply engrossing story.... Cary's impeccable research and seamless narrative carry us along" (Philadelphia Inquirer).
Review
Kindle $6.99
Hardcover
from $158.00
Paperback
$43.29
Read sample
Follow the author
Lorene CaryLorene Cary
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The Price of a Child: A Novel Paperback – 26 January 1996
by Lorene Cary (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (105)
With Price of a Child--the story of Ginnie Pryor (cook, mistress and servant to a Virginia planter) and her struggle with slavery in 1855--Cary continues has created a work that elevates the reputation she created with Black Ice, her memoir which won her comparisons to Maya Angelou and Richard Wright. In a novel that examines the price of freedom and the value of a child's life, Price of a Child is "a stunning achievement...a deeply engrossing story.... Cary's impeccable research and seamless narrative carry us along" (Philadelphia Inquirer).
Review
"The Price of a Child is a book seared by a sense of mission ... But there is nothing preachy about [Cary's] narrative style. She is a powerful storyteller, frankly sensual, mortally funny, gifted with an ear for the pounce and ragged inconsequentiality of real speech and an eye for the shifts and subterfuges by which ordinary people get by. With The Price of a Child, Lorene Cary has produced a generous, sardonic, full-blooded work of fiction." --The New York Times Book Review
"Cary's exacting sensual description does more than lend credibility to her portrait of the age. It imparts to her writing an undercurrent of searching perception, and a fastidious element of psychological complexity." --The Boston Globe
"A profoundly moving, evocative work that puts a fully realized human face on the issue of slavery and its consequences. Cary's passionate, intelligent prose and her assured command of historical events as they sweep across individual lives recall Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. The Price of a Child marks the emergence of a powerful voice in American fiction." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
From the Inside Flap
With Price of a Child--the story of Ginnie Pryor (cook, mistress and servant to a Virginia planter) and her struggle with slavery in 1855--Cary continues has created a work that elevates the reputation she created with "Black Ice, her memoir which won her comparisons to Maya Angelou and Richard Wright. In a novel that examines the price of freedom and the value of a child's life, Price of a Child is "a stunning achievement...a deeply engrossing story.... Cary's impeccable research and seamless narrative carry us along" ("Philadelphia Inquirer).
Read more
Product details
Publisher : KNOPF US; 1st edition (26 January 1996)
Language : English
Paperback : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 0679744673
ISBN-13 : 978-0679744672
Dimensions : 13.16 x 1.8 x 20.19 cmCustomer Reviews:
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (105)
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
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Lorene Cary
Lorene Cary was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1956. In 11th grade, she enrolled in the formerly all-white, all-male St. Paul's School in New Hampshire. Cary tells the story in Black Ice, which reviewers have called “brutally honest” and “stunning.” Her first novel, The Price of a Child, fictionalized the story of a female fugitive from slavery, and was selected as the inaugural choice of One Book, One Philadelphia. Other works include a girlfriend novel, Pride; FREE! Great Escapes from Slavery on the Underground Railroad, for young readers; and If Sons, Then Heirs, a family saga with love, land, and lynching at its center. Her upcoming memoir, Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century, is scheduled for publication in May 2019.
Alec Roland
5.0 out of 5 stars Slow-building plot but worth the readReviewed in the United States on 3 December 2024
Verified Purchase
Great book. Would recommend to anyone learning about pre-1865 America.
Report
Always Cogitating
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful portrayal of the moral landscape as the polarization of the coming civil war was developingReviewed in the United States on 21 November 2017
Verified Purchase
Challenging novel that directly addresses the racial divides in the last few years before the Civil War.
Today we have a self avowed white supremacist in the whitehouse and almost half the people think the civil war wasn't over slavery. These characters bring home the real human impact of slavery and why the civil war was a great thing not a tragedy.
I felt the white abolitionists were portrayed sympathetically but also realistically. Most were good hearted but the older ones had no sense of the cataclysm coming and had accommodated themselves to "the good fight".
The portrayal of the community and moral conflict among free blacks in Philadelphia is very interesting and I'd like to know how accurate it is....
The heroine's internal conflict over self vs fighting for the truth to get out is realistically portrayed and I was challenged by some of her insight, including on how slavery made liars of everyone. She helped me appreciate anew Frederick Douglass's great words.
Many moments of insight in the book, including how quickly her children were transformed by freedom and her own much slower transformation
Read more
Report
Mary L.Young
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad tale of historyReviewed in the United States on 9 December 2017
Verified Purchase
A well written historical saga of a time when slavery split this country like immigration does today and the conscience of a country began to evolve beyond a fear and a hate that still survives in a memory appearing even today to show us that where we've come from is not that far behind us.
Report
susieq
5.0 out of 5 stars well written and easy to follow.Reviewed in the United States on 2 April 2013
Verified Purchase
This book will really open your eyes to the plight of slaves' every day life and the horrors of slavery.Whites thought that slaves did not love their children and extended families. We loved our families just as much as master did his. The slave family could be broke-up at any moment. One day I was reading and for a moment I tried to imagine what if my mother was taken from me! It made me cry just the thought of it. Read this book and have your eyes opened!
Report
Courtney
4.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting NovelReviewed in the United States on 21 December 2017
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this read for the most part. The introduction of so many characters at once made it difficult in the beginning. Seemed to end abruptly as well. The main character found her voice and continued to grow- great lesson
Report
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"Cary's exacting sensual description does more than lend credibility to her portrait of the age. It imparts to her writing an undercurrent of searching perception, and a fastidious element of psychological complexity." --The Boston Globe
"A profoundly moving, evocative work that puts a fully realized human face on the issue of slavery and its consequences. Cary's passionate, intelligent prose and her assured command of historical events as they sweep across individual lives recall Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. The Price of a Child marks the emergence of a powerful voice in American fiction." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
From the Inside Flap
With Price of a Child--the story of Ginnie Pryor (cook, mistress and servant to a Virginia planter) and her struggle with slavery in 1855--Cary continues has created a work that elevates the reputation she created with "Black Ice, her memoir which won her comparisons to Maya Angelou and Richard Wright. In a novel that examines the price of freedom and the value of a child's life, Price of a Child is "a stunning achievement...a deeply engrossing story.... Cary's impeccable research and seamless narrative carry us along" ("Philadelphia Inquirer).
Read more
Product details
Publisher : KNOPF US; 1st edition (26 January 1996)
Language : English
Paperback : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 0679744673
ISBN-13 : 978-0679744672
Dimensions : 13.16 x 1.8 x 20.19 cmCustomer Reviews:
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (105)
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Follow
Lorene Cary
Lorene Cary was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1956. In 11th grade, she enrolled in the formerly all-white, all-male St. Paul's School in New Hampshire. Cary tells the story in Black Ice, which reviewers have called “brutally honest” and “stunning.” Her first novel, The Price of a Child, fictionalized the story of a female fugitive from slavery, and was selected as the inaugural choice of One Book, One Philadelphia. Other works include a girlfriend novel, Pride; FREE! Great Escapes from Slavery on the Underground Railroad, for young readers; and If Sons, Then Heirs, a family saga with love, land, and lynching at its center. Her upcoming memoir, Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century, is scheduled for publication in May 2019.
Alec Roland
5.0 out of 5 stars Slow-building plot but worth the readReviewed in the United States on 3 December 2024
Verified Purchase
Great book. Would recommend to anyone learning about pre-1865 America.
Report
Always Cogitating
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful portrayal of the moral landscape as the polarization of the coming civil war was developingReviewed in the United States on 21 November 2017
Verified Purchase
Challenging novel that directly addresses the racial divides in the last few years before the Civil War.
Today we have a self avowed white supremacist in the whitehouse and almost half the people think the civil war wasn't over slavery. These characters bring home the real human impact of slavery and why the civil war was a great thing not a tragedy.
I felt the white abolitionists were portrayed sympathetically but also realistically. Most were good hearted but the older ones had no sense of the cataclysm coming and had accommodated themselves to "the good fight".
The portrayal of the community and moral conflict among free blacks in Philadelphia is very interesting and I'd like to know how accurate it is....
The heroine's internal conflict over self vs fighting for the truth to get out is realistically portrayed and I was challenged by some of her insight, including on how slavery made liars of everyone. She helped me appreciate anew Frederick Douglass's great words.
Many moments of insight in the book, including how quickly her children were transformed by freedom and her own much slower transformation
Read more
Report
Mary L.Young
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad tale of historyReviewed in the United States on 9 December 2017
Verified Purchase
A well written historical saga of a time when slavery split this country like immigration does today and the conscience of a country began to evolve beyond a fear and a hate that still survives in a memory appearing even today to show us that where we've come from is not that far behind us.
Report
susieq
5.0 out of 5 stars well written and easy to follow.Reviewed in the United States on 2 April 2013
Verified Purchase
This book will really open your eyes to the plight of slaves' every day life and the horrors of slavery.Whites thought that slaves did not love their children and extended families. We loved our families just as much as master did his. The slave family could be broke-up at any moment. One day I was reading and for a moment I tried to imagine what if my mother was taken from me! It made me cry just the thought of it. Read this book and have your eyes opened!
Report
Courtney
4.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting NovelReviewed in the United States on 21 December 2017
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this read for the most part. The introduction of so many characters at once made it difficult in the beginning. Seemed to end abruptly as well. The main character found her voice and continued to grow- great lesson
Report
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Maya B
512 reviews
61 followers
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March 20, 2015
the author had good intentions as far as the storyline but the way the story was executed was very dull.
1st-time-reading-this-author
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Deacon Tom F
2,399 reviews
205 followers
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June 20, 2024
A lovely book that is a full range of emotions. The overall scene of slavery made breaks one’s heart. Yet, the way the family reached deep inside and were able to touch one another in the midst of all this pain was unique.
2 likes
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Jill
122 reviews
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June 26, 2011
Bought this book on a whim at the Philly AIDS Thrift Shop (90% off all books? yes, please). I read it in its entirety in a 16 hour journey from Paris to Philly. Needless to say, the book definitely helped those hours fly by.
I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked that it takes place in Philadelphia and gave a good insight about how slavery was viewed in the US, and especially PA, in 1855. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in historical fiction or to anyone who enjoys learning about Philly's past.
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Jack Becker
69 reviews
26 followers
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November 12, 2014
Although slow at times, I found this book to be filled with beautiful prose, vivid characters, and striking statements of truth that opened my eyes in new ways, as well as a lot more historical back-ground on this time period and area of slavery; Lorene Cary certainly did do her research, and has a talent for sliding historical facts into the story without you really realizing it (until your Humanities teacher makes you look the stuff up). I definitely recommend it.
historical-fiction
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Alexine Fleck
29 reviews
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April 28, 2012
I'm about half way through, and it's not as good as I really wanted it to be. But then I wonder, do I hold historical novels about slavery to higher standards? How does a person write really well about this enormous traumatic injustice that went on for centuries? And I hate to say it, but how does one write about slavery after Toni Morrison wrote about slavery?
That said, I just think it's thin. I don't much care about the romance plot. I want Mercer to be happy, but I don't want to read about that. I want to learn more about life and about what it means to "pay" a child for freedom. Then I think, am I no different from all those white abolitionist ladies who only want to hear about drama and heartache? Why can't I just let Mercer find love and happiness?
Finished a few days ago. Disappointing. I don't feel like it did the necessary work to earn the ending, which could have been much more moving if that narrative arc were more carefully crafted.
Sigh.
Finished: a resounding meh.
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Enikő
670 reviews
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February 5, 2015
Two stars - it was okay. The story itself was good, but it got lost in the telling. For exemple, I found myself frustrated when, after Ginnie finally climbed out from beneath the blankets and straw in the wagon to breathe freely, the narration turned toward the Quick family. These were Ginnie's first real moments of freedom, but the author chose this moment to introduce them. I might add that there were so many members in this family that I could never quite keep them all straight, apart from Harriet and perhaps Manny and Della. I wonder if there wouldn't have been a better way to introduce them, perhaps fewer at a time instead of all at once.
I also feel that Ginnie's pain at leaving Bennie behind wasn't given sufficient recognition. I would have thought her first move, once free, would have been to ask the members of the Underground Railroad about bringing him north. As it is, I almost feel that the book's title was not justified, although I did like the ending. It was realistic, instead of perfect.
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Susan
437 reviews
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June 11, 2011
The story was compelling, the characters were not, the writing difficult to read. The text came off as being preachy, which is fine if that is what the book is supposed to do. Although this is a difficult subject to write about, I have read other books on the same topic and come away feeling as though I was a part of the book. I know I was supposed to care about all of these characters, but they weren't written for us to know them, only to read about them.
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Lulu
1,044 reviews
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March 23, 2015
I loved the beginning of the book, but it quickly turned into a story about the Quick Family and not the child Mercer left behind. If this in fact based on a true story, I would like to know if Mercer ever found Bennie.
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Deanna
2 reviews
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November 6, 2010
I loved this read
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Carrie
128 reviews
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August 27, 2013
This is a very good book. I like this author and I recommend it.
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====
Price of a Child (The)
By Joanna Kolendo
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/price-of-a-child-the/
Essay
Based on the life of Jane Johnson (c. 1814-22 to 1872) and her escape from slavery, the historical novel The Price of a Child (1995) by Philadelphia writer Lorene Cary (b. 1956) tells the tale of a freedwoman’s journey from bondage to freedom and describes the lives of freed African Americans in 1850s Philadelphia. The title of the novel reflects that the main character, 30-year-old Virginia (Ginnie) Pryor, has to leave her youngest son behind on her master’s plantation to attain her freedom, which, therefore, comes at the price of one of her children. At the end of the novel, she receives a gift of money in the amount required to buy the freedom of a child the age of her youngest son.
A depiction of Passmore Williamson being held in Moyamensing Prison.
The Price of a Child is based on the life of Jane Johnson and her escape from slavery. This 1855 lithograph depicts one of Johnson’s allies, Passmore Williamson, being held in prison on charges of contempt after refusing to tell authorities where to find Johnson. (Library of Congress)
Set in Pennsylvania, a free state, in 1855, the novel draws upon the narrative of Johnson’s escape recorded by abolitionist William Still (1821-1902) and published in The Underground Railroad (1872). Traveling with her master—the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua and Virginian Jackson Pryor—and her two oldest children, Ginnie is in Philadelphia waiting to catch a ferry to New York (and ultimately journey to Nicaragua) when she remembers the escape stories of her husband and her former lover, the father of her oldest child. These stories inspire her to seek her own freedom via the Underground Railroad. Sacrificing any opportunity to return to her youngest child, still in bondage, Ginnie is escorted from the ferry by members of the Vigilance Committee, William Still and Passmore Williamson (1822-95), alongside dockworkers, and placed with a local African American family to start a new life.
Exemplifying African Americans in Philadelphia’s large black community, the Quicks are a family of entrepreneurs, including Manny; his wife, Della; their son, Tyree; their daughter, Harriet; and other extended family members. During her time with the family, Ginnie picks a new name, Mercer Gray, and helps the family by assisting Della with the cooking and working at a boardinghouse operated by Manny’s sister, Bea. By night, she is taught by Harriet. Before Ginnie can continue with her new life, however, she must face her former owner, as Ambassador Pryor, also the father of her two youngest children, accuses the five black individuals who assisted her of kidnapping. One of the gripping experiences from Jane Johnson’s life in this fictionalized version is Ginnie’s appearance at trial to defend the men and confront her former master.
Ginnie’s rescue from the ferry, her attendance at abolitionist meetings to tell her story, as well as her appearance at the trial to defend her rescuers directly parallel Johnson’s life. Although not wholly known, Johnson’s later life entails settling down in Boston with her two oldest sons and marrying twice. On the other hand, Mercer’s new life involves lecturing for the abolitionist cause and falling in love with Tyree Quick, who is married. They have an affair and decide to go to Canada together, but because of his family’s financial woes, Tyree decides to stay with his family. Unlike Johnson, at the end of the novel, Mercer heads for Canada to continue her abolitionist work.
The Price of a Child is an important piece of fiction that tells the tale of one woman’s fight for her priceless freedom. On a larger scale, it provides a window into Philadelphia’s Underground Railroad and the city’s newly freed African American society. Demonstrating the novel’s impact on the city of Philadelphia and the literary world, the novel was chosen as the first book for One Book, One Philadelphia, a city-wide reading program, in 2003.
Joanna Kolendo is an Assistant Professor of Library and Information Services at Chicago State University, where she works as a Reference & Electronic Resources Librarian. She received an M.S. from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and an M.Phil. from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Copyright 2016, Rutgers University
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