Without a doubt, the strong suit of this novel is the beautiful narrative voice of its protagonist, Minyon Manigault. The novel is set near Charleston, South Carolina. It begins in 1929 and ends 40 years later, in 1969. Minyon narrates the changes in her world throughout these 40 years in her native Gullah dialect, with vivid imagery and a strong feminine voice. Her narration dips and flows and is actually music to the reader's ears.

The subject of Min's narration is somewhat less compelling. Min is the keeper of the house of Hazelhedge, an elegant brothel run by Ariadne ("Miss Addie") Fleming. Min, Addie, Sarah the cook, and Frank the bartender are the only characters that remain in the book from start to finish. Obviously, over a 40-year span of time the "hoes" come and go. The book is divided into 5 decades and detail the changes in the house as well as the changes in Min and Addie's relationship. During the house's 40-year life, Min and Addie battle the Great Depression, prohibition, loss of loved ones, World War II, drug use among the "hoes", tax troubles, and a few bad hoes who try to steal and even kill to claw their way out of a life of prostitution. Min's perspective also vividly depicts a world of racism, both within and outside of the house.

Min and Addie's relationship is somewhat interesting as it progresses from that of master/servant to more of a partnership. Some of the stories of the bad hoes and bad tricks are also interesting. However, in many ways the novel reads more like five short stories; a different story with each decade. Also, although the author intentionally kept Addie's character mysterious and ambivalent, I wish she would have focused a little more on her relationship with Min. While their relationship is the one constant in all the five "short stories", it is always a peripheral story and not explored as fully as I wished it had been.

This was a creative effort by the author and contains such beautifully rendered prose that it mostly makes up for the book's flaws. I could have listened to Min narrate several other books with her keen but unsophisticated insights and beautiful native tongue.

Written as a first person narrative by a young black woman from a coastal Gullah community who, at the age of 14 is employed as a cleaning woman, the reader is introduced to the world of the fictional Hazelhedge brothel through her eyes.

The story spans four decades, and although the various prostitutes come and go through the years, the lead character, Minyon Manigault, remains as the trusted employee of the madam, eventually inheriting the house upon the madam's death.

Minyon's voice, written in a easily understandable dialect, is consistent throughout, and she is a well developed character who views the world with non-nonsense clarity. The people who provide the behind-the-scenes services of cooking and cleaning and laundry live and breath on these pages, as does the madam and the constantly changing stream of prostitutes, co-existing with a conservative community and frequented by most of the men from the town. Racial attitudes and the cultural changes during these years are all vividly drawn.

There are secrets too. Murder. Incest. Suicide. While this moves the plot along, not everything here rings true, however, and in spite of the easy flow of the reading, this is a weakness of this book. I also couldn't help getting bored although there were enough twists and turns of the plot to hold my interest.

Books have many purposes. Not all of them are works of art. Some of them are simply entertaining escapes that balance the complexities of our lives. This is one of those books, recommended as a fast read on a rainy day.

This book was great. I read it in one sitting and I did not want the story to end. Ms. Goodwin has swritten a story that everyone can enjoy and if you don't feel moved after reading it then somethings wrong. Thank you Ms. Goodwin for bringing joy into my life for one day.