The Keepers of the House [Paperback]

Shirley Ann Grau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2003

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1965, The Keepers of the House is Shirley Ann Grau’s masterwork, a many-layered indictment of racism and rage that is as terrifying as it is wise.

Entrenched on the same land since the early 1800s, the Howlands have, for seven generations, been pillars of their Southern community. Extraordinary family lore has been passed down to Abigail Howland, but not all of it. When shocking facts come to light about her late grandfather William’s relationship with Margaret Carmichael, a black housekeeper, the community is outraged, and quickly gathers to vent its fury on Abigail. Alone in the house the Howlands built, she is at once shaken by those who have betrayed her, and determined to punish the town that has persecuted her and her kin.

Morally intricate, graceful and suspenseful, The Keepers of the House has become a modern classic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Each year, I reread three authors--Toni Morrison, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Shirley Ann Grau. No one else writes about the landscape of Louisiana as she does, but also about the landscape of bitter love and family dreams, of sex not as romance but as commerce and experiment and mystery, of people adrift in their lives and people so tethered to their own pieces of earth. Keepers of the House is a masterpiece of history and race and the fragile yet tenuous ownership of land and love."
--Susan Straight, author of the National Book Award Finalist Highwire Moon

“A beautifully written book.”--Atlantic Monthly

“Her best novel.”--Saturday Review

“Shirley Ann Grau is one of those rare writers who creates a world, draws the reader into it, and makes him somehow happy there no matter what goes on.…Such is her beguilement that one comes to the novel’s end with a sense of loss and leaves that world with reluctance.” --Newsweek

From the Inside Flap

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1965, The Keepers of the House is Shirley Ann Grau?s masterwork, a many-layered indictment of racism and rage that is as terrifying as it is wise.

Entrenched on the same land since the early 1800s, the Howlands have, for seven generations, been pillars of their Southern community. Extraordinary family lore has been passed down to Abigail Howland, but not all of it. When shocking facts come to light about her late grandfather William?s relationship with Margaret Carmichael, a black housekeeper, the community is outraged, and quickly gathers to vent its fury on Abigail. Alone in the house the Howlands built, she is at once shaken by those who have betrayed her, and determined to punish the town that has persecuted her and her kin.

Morally intricate, graceful and suspenseful, The Keepers of the House has become a modern classic.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (November 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400030749
• ISBN-13: 978-1400030743
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grau gets me going ..., June 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Keepers of the House (Voices of the South) (Paperback)

I am black and grew up in poor, rural North Carolina in the 50s. I wish I had found this book in the late 60s when I wanted so much to read, hear, and talk with whites about this kind of true life story from the south. Shirley Ann Grau brings her characters to life so calmly and clearly. She writes of emotion, yet she hides much emotion, especially through the somewhat vague and underexposed storyteller-granddaugher, Abigail Howland Mason. The writing is so beautiful, and the story is so sorrowful. I left the ending wondering, not why the rage of the small town when racial secrets are discovered, but why the deep bitterness and anger shown by Abigail and her half-black, half-white kin. Yes, the south was - and in some respects remains - a cruel and contented place, and yes, people can be coarse and ugly, but in my heart I longed to see some sign of reconciliation.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fine language and is drawn to the exploration of love and hate, conformists and nonconformists, parents and children, greed and grace from a southern perspective. Ms. Grau deserved the Pulitzer in 1965 and I am glad I found her at last in 2001.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, the best Sunday I've spent in a long time!!, January 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Keepers of the House (Voices of the South) (Paperback)

What a fascinating read!! The Keepers Of The House is a marvelous book that I spent an entire Sunday reading, from cover to cover. It tells the story of William Howland, a wealthy white landowner, and Margaret Carmichael, a black woman who becomes his maid, and the love that they shared, along with the choses and consequences their love would bring. The story is told by William's grandaughter Abigail Howland Mason, in a long line of Abigails. She narrates this tale, William's and Margaret's history, how they met, their children and how they lived. She also tells how years later the marriage of William and Margaret affects her life. Grau tells the story of forbidden love and revenge that is laced with racism extraordinarily well. Even though throughout the book the reader is aware that the narrator is Abigail, it doesn't hinder the essence of William and Margaret. The soul of the characters are exposed. A very well written book. I know of no better way of spending a Sunday!!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic- A gem out of the past, October 11, 2004

By 

K. J. Blake "Super Reader" (Phoenix,AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Keepers of the House (Paperback)

If you have ever read about life in the south under segretation, you have an idea about how difficult things were for African Americans and how tense things were for whites.
Ms. Grau won a Pulitzer for this book in 1965 for her fascinating story of a wealthy family and the scandal that arises when the truth comes out that the founding father was married to his mulatto housekeeper and had children with her after his first wife died.

The intense human emotions, the political climate, the social temper and environment is the backdrop to the amazing character development that is the heart of all of Ms Grau's work. Truly one of America's most talented writers- her work deserves notice and study. Her writing style has a lyrical quality, it flows and builds. I find it impossible to put her books down- the quality of the writing, the interesting characters and the intensity of her storytelling is irresistible.

The Keepers of the House is a must for anyone who considers themselves a true bibliophile!