This was a great story seamlessly weaving fictional characters with actual people. Based on a true event, the Nat Turner rebellion, the author has created a story leading up to this uprising where over 50 people were left murdered. Eleven-year-old Harriet, the narrator of the book, is a terrific character who is not afraid to stand-up against the cruelty her older brother shows towards his slaves. When Turner comes to work for the family, Harriet she is tricked into giving him a map of the plantations in the area which he uses in his uprising. This book is violent and gruesome at times but gives a wonderful introduction to slavery in America's South for those who only have a vague knowledge of the subject. ( )

I didn't mean to re-read this but glad I did. This book gives me much to think on. What must it have been like to hear and see what Harriet experiences throughout the book? Such a haunting book. ( )

Nat Turner's rebellion would not have been so murderous if he had not had a map of the local plantations. But where did the map come from? This book follows the story of Harriet Whitehead, an illegitimate daughter living with her father's estranged family in Virginia. She chafes under the rule of her rigid preacher half-brother whose God is all fire and judgement. When she meets Nat Turner, who preaches a loving God, she is intrigued.
An engrossing story of the rebellion that does not attempt to explain or justify anyone's actions, either Nat Turner's or the slave owners. It tells the story like it is and lets the full horror of the beatings and mistreatments be seen through eleven year old Harriet's eyes. No one is completely a saint or completely a sinner in this book. It tells the story with and immediacy and realness that is often lacking in dry historical accounts. ( )

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Harriet knows her place in society.

She's the half-sister of the plantation owner. She does little jobs and writes letters for his mother.

She notices the differences in treatment of all people and has a hard time dealing with the injustice. When Nat Turner comes to work at her plantation, she finds herself drawn to him. His God seems quite different from her brother's.

When he asks for her help, she doesn't refuse him. What she doesn't realize is the part she might play in changing history.

This gripping tale imagines the story of the bloodiest uprising of slaves in American History. ( )

Harriet, a young girl living on a Southern plantation, provides a rebel slave with a map in this fictionalized account of Nat Turner's slave uprising.

Rinaldi's strength definitely lies in her ability to evoke the time period. This book feels just as you'd expect a book set in the early 1800s to feel. The language is mostly appropriate, (with a handful of anachronisms that may be corrected in the final edition; I have an ARC), and Rinaldi has done a good job of incorporating period details.

I also liked how Rinaldi dealt with the two opposing views on religion her young protagonist encounters. She gives them equal weight; while there is some suggestion that Harriet's preacher brother could be kinder, especially where the slaves are concerned, I don't feel that Rinaldi treats his approach to God as any less valid than Nat's... at least at the beginning of the book. Things become much less clear as the story progresses.

Overall, though, I find that I'm rather underwhelmed. The book feels like a lot of little pieces that never quite come together. Rinaldi has developed an intricate family dynamic for Harriet, but the only parts that really click are her relationships with her "servant" Violet and her sister-in-law Pleasant. Otherwise, the connections between herself and her family are just too shallow. We hear about how much her stepmother loves her, but we never really see it. Likewise, we hear about how much everyone values the baby, but we never see it. We get the barest glimpse of preacher Richard's true feeling about his family. Her sister Margaret feels like an afterthought.

In some ways, this approach fits in with Harriet's character. As the outsider narrator, she feels no great connection with any of these people and so isn't likely to expend much energy on them. Fitting as it is, though, it doesn't exactly make for compelling reading.

The historical event that forms the base of the novel also suffers from sketchy treatment. Again, this is somewhat understandable. Harriet goes through an horrific ordeal for which she is partially responsible. She's not going to want to elaborate. Realistic, yes; compelling, no.

I am, however, willing to consider that I may just be the wrong audience for this book. THE LETTER WRITER deals with the bloodiest slave uprising in American history. I'm not an American. I know the big events, (like the Revolutionary War and the Civil War), and some of the things that particularly interest me, (like the Louisiana Purchase and the gold rush), but I'm not well versed on American history as a whole. The author's note makes it seem that all Americans know about Nat Turner's slave uprising. If this is the case, I'm sure they'd be able to fill in the blanks for themselves, and the problem is not as big as it could be. It does mean that the book is only fully accessible for a very particular segment of the world's population, though... and I don't fall into that group.

Rinaldi also states in her author's note that she wanted Nat to remain misunderstood and so made no real attempt to offer answers or explanations for any of the events she wrote about. Once again, I find this realistic but not as compelling as I would've liked.

It was a decent book, but it just didn't go deep enough for me. I'd consider it appropriate for those with an interest in American history, but those who aren't as familiar with these events probably won't get much out of it.

(Review copy provided by the publisher. This review originally appeared in a slightly different form on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )