I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis Series: The Davenports #1
Published by Penguin on 2023 February 02
Genres: Historical, Romance
Pages: 224
Format: E-Arc
Source: Netgalley
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The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago.
Olivia, the beautiful eldest Davenport daughter, is ready to do her duty and marry. . . until charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight sweeps into town and sparks fly.
Her younger sister, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love-unless it's with her sister's betrothed.
Amy-Rose, childhood-friend-turned-maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business-and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen's brother, John. But Olivia's best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can't seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers.
Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, The Davenports follows four determined and passionate young Black women as they discover the courage to steer their own path in life-and love.
There was no other reason why I picked up The Davenports from Netgalley other than the fact that it was offered as one of the “Read Now” books and well, I liked that dashing yellow cover. I have literally zero expectation when I dove into the book. It’s that sort of day when you just tell the Universe that, “Hiyah, let us surprise ourselves by choosing and reading a random book.” Yes, I went into The Davenports blind and not to offend anyone (I’m not American), I don’t even have the slightest idea who C.M. Patterson was not until I finished the whole book and checked his Wikipedia.
Anyway, the Davenports is about this very wealthy family in Chicago sometime in the 1800s. What sets them apart from the other rich and famous is that they’re one of those few Black families who had proved their mettle in terms of making money as if it’s simple as shitting it out after a meal. The family’s patriarch is Mr. Davenport (a character inspired from C.M. Patterson), a runaway plantation slave, who made it big in Chicago by manufacturing luxurious carriages. To ensure that his 3 children won’t suffer the way he had suffered from the cruelty of his Caucasian master, he and his wife raised them with luxury and as sheltered as possible. So we’ve got John, Olivia, and Helen as the three children. But for the sake of the story, we will only get to read Olivia, Helen, Ruby (Olivia’s bestfriend), and Amy-Rose’s (one of the Davenports’ maids) POVs.
As you can see, the lives of the four girls are heavily intertwined especially that the overarching theme of the whole book is “Who’s gonna get married first and have her happily ever after?” Yes, you have read that right. The Davenports is more of a romance book than a socio-political one. The four ladies, despite having their own personalities and seeing them gradually develop into their own person as the story progressed, are wrapped in their own individual dilemma in getting their one true love. Unfortunately, getting their one true love is not as simple as getting presented to the society and voila, you are already engaged with an acceptable gentleman on your side. For the four ladies, every one of the them is pining for what they think was the right man for them only to find out that it’s actually the other guy that made their heart pump with joy. And well, everything kind of snowballed as different romantic conflicts arise what with the other girl silently falling inlove with the man whose kind of promised to the other girl. With the path that the story has taken, I felt weirded out but at the same time, I was highly entertained because why not? It has gone batshit crazy… a total makjang (i.e outrageous storyline) but literally right up my alley kind of makjang. As I have said, I did not have expectations about this book, so I went along to where the author wants to take me.
So if you are planning to pick up this book and anticipating a retelling of Uncle Tom’s cabin, I’d like to inform you right now that please go and reread the book…and read the Davenports if you feel like reading about posh Black girls fighting it out with the Universe to be with their one true love. In here, we are only given snippets as to how the black people fought for equal rights, how they’re trying to live normal lives in a society dominated by white people, and what are their efforts to liberate the slaves from their cruel masters. Had the author explored this part of the storyline some more, I think The Davenports would be a much more enchanting read because there’s just so much story to tell about the struggles of every black people in Chicago in the 1800s. Being a filthy rich black person is not even enough to shield you from condescension and judgemental eyes of the ordinary Caucasian. It’s a difficult world to live in surely but there’s a lot of promise if the author had just taken the time to expound on it. Personally, as a person of color and whose knowledge of black slavery is not extensive, I would really appreciate it if there was more to the plot other than the romance.
Unfortunately, you just have to take what you’re given and this is what I did with this book. I enjoyed it for what it was, a romance book with endearing characters that entertained me from beginning to end.