Book Review: House of Rougeaux by Jenny Jaeckel

About:
House of Rougeaux by Jenny Jaeckel is a novel following the Rougeaux family from being enslaved in the Caribbean, to finding freedom. This is Ms. Jaeckel debut novel, but not her first book.

• 308 pages
• Publisher: Raincloud Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1941203248

My rating for House of Rougeaux – 3
Buy House of Rougeaux from Amazon.com*
More Books by Jenny Jaeckel*

Thoughts:
I found House of Rougeaux by Jenny Jaeckel to be an interesting read, a good story but not one that gets a hold of you and doesn’t let go. The part of the story which takes place on a sugar plantation in the Caribbean is intriguing, fascinating and well written.

After the part on the sugar plantation, the subsequent chapters are about the lives of the family’s decedents. Some of the stories were interesting, some less so. The author decided to tell the stories out of chronological order which made it difficult to keep track of the large cast of characters. The author starts telling the tale in 1785-1869, then goes to 1949, 1964, 1925, 1853, 1883-1889, and finally the late 1800s.

I also felt that this book was more of a series of short stories, following a family tree chart, some were related, but several felt disjointed. I did enjoy much of the novel, the writing is very good and the story about the views of society on such issues as racism, homosexuality are interesting to read about.

About:
Abeje and Adunbi, sister and brother, are slaves in a Caribbean sugar planation on Antilles Island (Martinique). Hetty, Adunbi’s daughter manages to get to Quebec City, Canada and meets Dax Rougeaux who buys her freedom.

Buy House of Rougeaux from Amazon.com*
More Books by Jenny Jaeckel*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account