The Wedding Gift

A Novel

By: Marlen Suyapa Bodden

Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, January LaVoy

When Cornelius Allen gives his daughter Clarissa’s hand in marriage, he presents her with a wedding gift: the young slave she grew up with, Sarah. Sarah is also Allen’s daughter and Clarissa’s sister, a product of his longtime relationship with his house slave, Emmeline. When Clarissa’s husband suspects that their newborn son is illegitimate, Clarissa and Sarah are sent back to her parents, Cornelius and Theodora, in shame, setting in motion a series of events that will destroy this once-powerful family.

Told through alternating viewpoints of Sarah and Theodora Allen, Cornelius’ wife, The Wedding Gift is a stunning novel that shows where the complicated and compelling bonds and relationships between women explored in novels like The Help and The Secret Life of Bees began. Marlen Suyapa Bodden's novel is an intimate portrait that shows where this particular American story and dynamic all started and will leave listeners breathless.

Includes a reading group guide read by the author.

©2013 Marlen Suyapa Bodden (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Loved this one!

First of all, I love all the books, it seems, that this narrator has done. Both narrator were fantastic on this book. I listened to the whole thing within two days! It's a very good story. Some parts of this was quite difficult to hear, but all-in-all, it was a superb book! The ending was shocking! Perfect use of my credit!

This book made you want to keep turning the page's!

Enjoyed the book and the characters very much!
The book took you back in time to our history of slavery and their lives.

I love this book so much I felt like I was there!

This book kept me intrigued until the very end! loved the ending OMG!! PERFECT!!! LOL PERFECT!!!

Loved it!

love the way the story was told, great plot, didn't always see things coming, highly recommend

Loved it.

If you could sum up The Wedding Gift in three words, what would they be?

Captivating, great narration.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Wedding Gift?

The end

What about Jenna Lamia and January LaVoy ’s performance did you like?

Both readers have a wonderful ability to transform from one character to another and remain believable. When looking for a good book, I pick something from my list of favorite authors and good narrators. Because I needed to branch out to something different from my usual type of book, I picked "The Wedding Gift". It was a great choice and Jenna Lamia and January Lavoy are now at the top of the list of good narrators along with Barbara Rosenblat, who is my favorite.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"The Wedding Gift gives you a better understanding of what it felt like to be a slave at the mercy of man's beliefs, that because of the color of your skin, your value was less than the rest of humanity."