I had high hopes for this book, and it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
The story is told in two parts, the first focuses on August Sitwell, the groundskeeper for a rich white man. Sitwell had a unique ability to guess the components of foods based on smell, a talent that lands him as the face of a racist rib sauce brand.
The second part focuses on Jennie Williams, ten years later. She had been a maid for the same family Mr. Sitwell worked for and now finds herself trying to run a business and sell the healing salve she invented.
The writing was solid, and I will say I felt thoroughly drawn into the world of the early 1900s, Hubbard did a great job making the time period feel authentic. That being said, there was a bit of a disconnect for me between the blurb on the back of the book and what the book was actually about. While the first part dragged a bit, I throughly enjoyed the second part and the pacing, though the ending was very abrupt. I liked Jennie’s character significantly more than I liked Sitwell. While all of the characters were well written, I found myself favoring the woman characters over the men in almost every instance.
The Rib King, though set in the early 1900s, focuses on issues still relevant today such as race, and how settling things with violence can have bad repercussions. Overall, I liked the spirit behind this book and enjoyed reading it!
Thanks to Bookishfirst and Harper Collins for this ARC!
The story is told in two parts, the first focuses on August Sitwell, the groundskeeper for a rich white man. Sitwell had a unique ability to guess the components of foods based on smell, a talent that lands him as the face of a racist rib sauce brand.
The second part focuses on Jennie Williams, ten years later. She had been a maid for the same family Mr. Sitwell worked for and now finds herself trying to run a business and sell the healing salve she invented.
The writing was solid, and I will say I felt thoroughly drawn into the world of the early 1900s, Hubbard did a great job making the time period feel authentic. That being said, there was a bit of a disconnect for me between the blurb on the back of the book and what the book was actually about. While the first part dragged a bit, I throughly enjoyed the second part and the pacing, though the ending was very abrupt. I liked Jennie’s character significantly more than I liked Sitwell. While all of the characters were well written, I found myself favoring the woman characters over the men in almost every instance.
The Rib King, though set in the early 1900s, focuses on issues still relevant today such as race, and how settling things with violence can have bad repercussions. Overall, I liked the spirit behind this book and enjoyed reading it!
Thanks to Bookishfirst and Harper Collins for this ARC!