Key West Literary Seminar

Valerie Martin: 2009
A reading from Property

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Valerie Martin is the author of three collections of short fiction, including The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories; several novels, including Tresspass and Mary Reilly, which was made into a movie with Julia Roberts and John Malkovich; and a nonfiction work about St. Francis of Assisi.

In this recording from the 27th Key West Literary Seminar, Martin reads from her Orange Prize-winning historical novel, Property. Set on a plantation outside New Orleans in 1828, Property is narrated by Manon Gaudet, a slaveowner whose husband has fathered two children with one of Manon's slaves. In the passage presented here, Manon meets with her brother-in-law following an insurrection in which Manon has been shot in the shoulder, the slave has run away, and her husband has been killed.

From KWLS 2009: Historical Fiction and the Search for Truth
(13:54) / 6.4 MB


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This recording is being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the author. © 2009 Valerie Martin. Used with generous permission from Valerie Martin.

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Arlo Haskell published on June 4, 2009 8:17 PM.

William Kennedy: 2009 was the previous entry in this blog.

Andrea Barrett: 2009: Ship Fever is the next entry in this blog.

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