Inventing Victoria

Starred review from November 1, 2018

Gr 8 Up-Fourteen-year-old Essie Mirth is ashamed of her prostitute mother, Praline, and the house of repute on Minis Street in 1880s Savannah (Forest City). She has a protector in storytelling caretaker Ma Clara. Essie earns a housekeeping position at Abby Bowfield's boardinghouse, where she makes her only friend, Binah, and meets a mysterious boarder named Dorcas Vashon. She is taken under Dorcas's wing, leaves her humble beginnings behind, and reinvents herself in Baltimore as Victoria Vashon, the niece of Dorcas. She receives strict education and etiquette training from Agnes Hardwick. The protagonist is soon welcomed by the black middle class and black aristocracy in Washington, DC. The teen struggles with her newfound socialite status. She is disturbed by the obnoxious, class-conscious and color-struck attitudes of the other society ladies. Victoria is courted by insurance entrepreneur Wyatt Riddle. She is faced with a blast from the past whose presence threatens her new life. Bolden makes this YA novel promising and enjoyable with a combined weaving of history and fiction. It is poetic, breathtaking, descriptive and fast-paced. Fans of Bolden's Crossing Ebenezer Creek will recognize Praline, but Victoria's story stands alone. Educators and history buffs might appreciate how some black historical figures are incorporated into the narrative. VERDICT An excellent choice for YA historical fiction shelves.-Donald Peebles, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2018
In 1880s Savannah, an African-American girl seizes the opportunity to enter a different life.Essie has many questions about the life she's lived with her mother, her "aunties," and the white men who visit, feeling closer to their cleaner, Ma Clara--but tough as life is, she knows it's better than the times of slavery. It is Ma Clara who urges Essie's Mamma to send her to school. When she leaves home for a housekeeping job, her mother furiously accuses Essie of snobbery, revealing that Essie's father was a white Union soldier. At the boardinghouse, Essie does her tasks and delights in reading books from the parlor. A guest, Dorcas Vashon, takes an interest in Essie, offering her the chance to start a new life in Baltimore. The lessons that will turn Victoria, Essie's new chosen name, into a member of the emerging African-American elite are demanding. She meets noteworthy figures such as Frederick Douglass, falls in love, and wonders if she can marry without revealing her past. This unique work seamlessly weaves aspects of black history into the detailed narrative. Essie's desire for a life she can be proud of is palpable; as Victoria, she emerges as a fully realized character, a product of all her experiences. The depiction of Washington, D.C.'s African-American elite is rich and complex, never shying away from negatives such as colorism and social climbing.A compelling and significant novel. (Historical fiction. 13-18)

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October 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 In her follow-up to Crossing Ebenezer Creek? (2017), Bolden explores what happened to those who survived that journey, through the character of Essie, a young black woman in 1880s Savannah, Georgia. When presented with the chance to start over, Essie becomes Victoria and moves to Baltimore to learn how to become a society lady, eventually ending up living the good life in Washington, D.C. Though she vows to say goodbye to her past, Victoria finds it's easier said than done. The novel's short introductory chapters give background to her story and invite readers into Victoria's life, but their nonlinear arrangement can be hard to follow. Only after several flashbacks and flash-forwards does the book finally settle in real-time narration. The story, as described in Bolden's author's note, seeks to illuminate an often-neglected aspect of black history: the black middle class and black aristocracy of the past. The rich descriptions of people and life in early America will fascinate readers as the book introduces them to this widely overlooked population in history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)