Property

Publisher details

Author
Valerie Martin
Publisher
Hachette
Genres
Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Winner, Fiction
Released
01 January, 2003

Property

Buy now

Retail partners

    Synopsis

    Manon Gaudet is unhappily married to the owner of a Louisiana sugar plantation. She misses her family and longs for the vibrant lifestyle of her native New Orleans, but most of all, she longs to be free of the suffocating domestic situation. The tension revolves around Sarah, a slave girl who may have been given to Manon as a wedding present from her aunt, whose young son Walter is living proof of where Manon's husband's inclinations lie.This private drama is being played out against a brooding atmosphere of slave unrest and bloody uprisings. And if the attacks reach Manon's house, no one can be sure which way Sarah will turn . . .Winner of the 2003 Orange Prize for Fiction.
    Valerie Martin
    About the author

    Valerie Martin

    Valerie Martin is the author of ten novels, including Trespass, Mary ReillyItalian Fever, and Property, three collections of short fiction, and a biography of St. Francis of Assisi, titled Salvation. She has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, as well as the Kafka Prize (for Mary Reilly) and Britain’s Orange Prize (for Property). Among others, Martin’s last novel, The Confessions of Edward Day was a New York Times notable book for 2009.A new novel The Ghost of the Mary Celeste was published by Nan Talese/Random House in January of 2014, and a middle-grade reader Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea co-written with Valerie’s niece Lisa Martin, came out from Algonquin in October of 2013.Valerie Martin has taught in many writing programs, including Mt. Holyoke College, University of Massachusetts, and Sarah Lawrence College. She resides in Dutchess County, New York and is currently Professor of English at Mt. Holyoke College

    Books by Valerie Martin

    Related articles

    Vote Now to Win Australia's Favourite 100 New Books

    News

    15 July 2026

    Vote Now to Win Australia's Favourite 100 New Books

      Podcast: Holden Sheppard & Peter Polites on Their Unique, Diverse Backgrounds

      Podcast

      13 July 2026

      Podcast: Holden Sheppard & Peter Polites on Their Unique, Diverse Backgrounds

        PODCAST: Libby Trainor Parker on Finding Healing Through Advocacy

        Podcast

        6 July 2026

        PODCAST: Libby Trainor Parker on Finding Healing Through Advocacy

          PODCAST: Sarah Trad on Hospitality and Building Her Dream House

          Podcast

          29 June 2026

          PODCAST: Sarah Trad on Hospitality and Building Her Dream House

            Vote for the Better Reading Kids' Top 50 and go in the draw to win

            News

            26 June 2026

            Vote for the Better Reading Kids' Top 50 and go in the draw to win

              PODCAST: Joan Sauers on Film and Mysteries

              Podcast

              22 June 2026

              PODCAST: Joan Sauers on Film and Mysteries

                PODCAST: Victoria Purman on Journalism, Publishing and Vintage Books

                Podcast

                15 June 2026

                PODCAST: Victoria Purman on Journalism, Publishing and Vintage Books

                  Q&A: Maya Linnell, Author of Sunrise at Sunny Cross Farm

                  News | Author Related

                  8 June 2026

                  Q&A: Maya Linnell, Author of Sunrise at Sunny Cross Farm

                    PODCAST: What Are You Reading? The App with Caroline Overington

                    Podcast

                    8 June 2026

                    PODCAST: What Are You Reading? The App with Caroline Overington

                      PODCAST: Francesca Albanese on War and Power

                      Podcast

                      1 June 2026

                      PODCAST: Francesca Albanese on War and Power

                        COMMENTS

                        Leave a Reply

                        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *