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Summary
Summary
Sarah Henry, wife of the famous statesman Patrick Henry, is losing her mind, and she's secretly being kept in the cellar because she is a danger to herself and her children. Daughter Anne has a secret, too. She knows which child will inherit Sarah's madness, and she'll pay any price to protect her siblings from this information.
With insight and compassion, Ann Rinaldi explores the possibility that Patrick Henry's immortal cry of "Give me liberty, or give me death," which roused a nation to arms, was first spoken by his wife, Sarah, as she pleaded to be released from her confinement. Told from the point of view of Patrick Henry's children, Or Give Me Death eloquently depicts the secret life and tremendous burdens borne by one famous American.
Author Notes
Young adult author Ann Rinaldi was born in New York City on August 27, 1934. After high school, she became a secretary in the business world. She got married in 1960 and stopped working, but after having two children she decided to try writing. In 1969, she wrote a weekly column in the Somerset Messenger Gazette and in 1970 she wrote two columns a week for the Trentonian, which eventually led to her writing features and soft new stories. She published her first novel Term Paper in 1979, but was ultimately drawn to writing historical fiction when her son became involved in reenactments while he was in high school. Her first historical fiction novel was Time Enough for Drums. She also writes for the Dear America series. She currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey with her husband.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This often gripping but also melodramatic novel set just before the Revolutionary War explores Patrick Henry's tragic domestic life, from the point of view of two of his daughters. Patrick's wife, Sarah, is "mad"-in the opening scenes, she tries to drown their infant son. As Patrick travels extensively, "to talk about the new evils sent to us by the king," 16-year-old Patsy, the oldest child and the first narrator, is left to cope with his disregard for "the evil going on here at home under his own roof." It falls to Patsy (and her intended, MyJohn) to investigate the institution someone recommends and, when it proves barbaric, to contrive for her father to confine her mother to the cellar. Throughout, Patsy must run the household and supervise her four youngest siblings, albeit with the help of slaves. Rinaldi (A Break with Charity) effectively switches narrators midway through, when she adopts the voice of spirited middle sister Anne, who chafes under Patsy's tyrannical rule and the web of household secrets. While the portrayal of Patrick Henry is unusually complex, the author romanticizes Sarah's illness. For example, the unstable woman's pleadings get credit as the source of Henry's most famous line ("Give me liberty or give me death!"), and the plot hinges on the device that Sarah is both prophetic and recognized as such by her daughters. Some young readers may enjoy the supernatural overlay; to others, it may cloud an otherwise perceptive view of the dynamics of a family in distress. Ages 10-14. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Sixteen-year-old Patsy and nine-year-old Anne reveal life in the home of their famous father Patrick Henry. Surprisingly, it is not politics that dominate their lives but the increasing mental illness of their mother. The emotional turmoil within the house is richly detailed, and the sisters' voices are authentic. Bib. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 7-9. One of the few novels to deal with the problem of insanity in early America, this opens in 1771, as Patrick Henry's 16-year-old daughter, Patsy, realizes that her mother is going insane. When Mrs. Henry's actions threaten the lives of her two youngest children, the family shut her away in a cellar room for the safety of all and to hide her dementia from the larger community. In 1773, Patsy's younger sister, Anne, takes over the narration, which concludes in 1778 with the breakdown of her brother. Patrick Henry appears at intervals, but for the most part the other family members, and occasionally their slaves, take center stage. Two plot elements seem a bit contrived: Mrs. Henry's anguished plea to Patrick Henry to give her freedom or death (foreshadowing and, the novel intimates, inspiring his most famous speech) and her "second sight" that allows her to predict events. Rinaldi knows how to tell a story, though, and her depiction of the effects of mental illness are true to the period, yet transcend it. The book ends with an author's note and a bibliography. CarolynPhelan.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6 Up-"I was the first one in the family to know when Mama started to go insane." This introductory line sets the tone for this story about Patrick Henry's two eldest daughters struggling to grow up in revolutionary America. The first part of the book is narrated by 16-year-old Patsy, who strives to gain her siblings' respect and retain control of the family's "Negro servants" when her mother is confined to the cellar. With immature aspirations and clouded by the fear that she will inherit her mother's illness, she longs only to marry her betrothed and to live a privileged, petted life on their Virginia plantation. Willful, provoking, and seemingly spoiled, nine-year-old Anne narrates the second part. She is surprisingly filled with insight, intelligence, and overwhelming compassion as she challenges her domineering sister. Tormented by the question, "when do you keep a secret and when do you tell a lie?" Anne takes measurable yet unrewarded risks to do what is best for those she loves. Rinaldi successfully weaves the past into a fascinating story from two unique perspectives. Although the plot unfolds slowly at the beginning, its appeal along with the pace increases. The book is an intriguing blend of historical fact and fiction within which lies the hint of embedded psychological themes such as mental disorders, precognition, and complex relationship issues.-Kimberly Monaghan, Vernon Area Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Skipping over much of the Revolutionary War and relegating Patrick Henry to a minor character, this is not the story one thinks it is; it's even better. When Sarah Henry, Patrick's wife, tries to kill her own children (presumably from post-partum depression), the family hides her in the basement rather than send her to the squalor of an insane asylum. Two of the Henrys' daughters narrate this multi-layered story. Patsy, the typical big sister, asserts her authority over the household and constantly worries that she will inherit the "family curse." Tomboy Anne also assumes a major family responsibility. Although her mother, who many believe has prophetic powers, tells Anne who will share her mental illness, the girl pretends to be the one destined for doom rather than reveal the true family member. Anne discovers that knowing when to keep a secret and when to tell the truth is not a black-and-white issue. This is further reflected as the Henry family sneaks in tea and other British imports and owns slaves in an age of idealism. Rinaldi delivers another intriguing spin on history, as she clenches the novel with a shocking ending. (Historical fiction. 11-15) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Chapter OneSPRING 1771I WAS THE FIRST ONE in the family to know when Mama started to go insane. Somewhere along the line, when Pa was away speechifying against all those laws and writs and resolutions, she took leave of her senses.I didn't want to admit it at first. Mama's tired, I told myself. Too much time alone. But then one day she dipped baby Edward into the basin of water because he was fretful.Dipping a baby in water is no reason to think somebody is addled. But Mama wasn't about to take him out.Baby Edward was just two months old, and he'd been crying for hours already. Nothing Silvy or Pegg or any of the other Negro servants did would stop him."The water will becalm him," Mama said.But she had that same look in her eyes that I'd seen the day I found her in the middle of the English garden trying to take all her clothes off, and talking about how the sun was her only friend. I got her inside right quick. That was the day she found out Pa was leaving once more."The House of Burgesses again." She looked mournful sad. And after that day she just went all inside herself.Edward stopped crying, sure enough, when she put him in that water. He near turned blue."Mama," I said, "Mama." But gently. Lest she get a purchase on him that I couldn't break. She paid me no mind.So I pulled my little brother out of the water. He was choking by then, and I did what Pa had taught me and John to do in case one of the other little ones fell into New Found River. I set him down on the wood table and pushed his chest until he got his breath."I can't abide his crying anymore," Mama was saying. She just kept saying it, over and over, while I set about getting Edward breathing, and Pegg, our cook, started praying to Jesus then and there.Soon the commotion brought Pegg's children, who were always underfoot, anyway. From Shadrack, the oldest at twelve, to Nancy, Pleasant, Jessee, Reuben, and even Letty, the two-year-old."Is the baby daid? Is the baby daid?" five-year-old Reuben kept asking."Get the children out!" I ordered.Pegg shooed them out."Take Mama to the front parlor."She led Mama away."And keep a still tongue in your head." I was stern but kind, the way Pa had taught me to be with the Negroes.But Pa was away again. Likely riding through the countryside to stop and call at taverns, stores, and plantations to talk about the new evils sent to us by the king. While he did not know of the evil going on here at home under his own roof.Nobody in the family did yet. Except MyJohn, my intended. My betrothed. So far I'd managed to keep it between me and MyJohn.I wrapped Edward in dry clothing. He was making little wheezing sounds. I put him in his cradle and went from the detached kitchen to the main house. I ran in the back door, through the long hall, where there were bloodstains on the heart-pine floors because of a duel once fought here. I was careful not to step on the bloodstains. All of us children were convinced it was Excerpted from Or Give Me Death: A Novel of Patrick Henry's Family by Ann Rinaldi, Ann Rinaldi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
