The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
he 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. Now it’s 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love—even where they’re not supposed to.
There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married…until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love—unless it’s with her sister’s suitor. Amy-Rose, the 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 is the tale of four determined and passionate young Black women discovering the courage to steer their own path in life—and love.
OMGGG can yall believe I only completed TWO BOOKS in the ENTIRE month of November?!?
Believe it..because life been BUSY AF around here!!!!
November held rehearsals, shows, birthdays, holidays, house guests, school events, plus regular home/work stuff AND a cold that would NOT QUIT on me.
Usually I get most of my audiobook listens in while I’m driving in the car by myself….which *barely* happened this month as my youngest was with me almost every single time I was driving.
I also listen quite a bit when I’m doing chores around the house….which just DIDN’T get done much in November because of all of the above.
Plus when I finally DID crawl into bed each night, I would read like 2 pages of something before I was SOUND ASLEEP.
Those things GREATLY affected my reading intake.
I can’t say life is slowing down much in December either until we get to riggghhhttt before Christmas…my household is SO looking forward to a few days of NOTHING on our schedule for a few days.
I can’t wait to just chill and read and drink wine and eat snacks!!
ANYWAS…
Let’s get down to my thoughts about this read because that’s why you’re here, right?
Here is what I enjoyed:
This historical fiction book takes place in a very lucrative time for Black Americans in the North which is not spoken about or taught much in schools. This was in the years following the Civil War, during Reconstruction and the Great Migration.
The author based this book on the real life story and family of C.R. Patterson, a formerly enslaved man who built his own successful carriage company in Ohio. After his death, his son turned their business into an automobile manufacturer…and it was the first and only Black owned American automobile company.
This interview with Ms. Marquis in Publisher’s Weekly was super interesting and gives a little more back story to her inspiration:
The backbones of the story and it’s time period were what I liked most about this story. I always enjoy it when authors write fiction with plenty of real history mixed in to teach their audience as they entertain them…especially when it is history that is often ignored or overlooked by mainstream society and schools.
Here is what I did not enjoy about the book:
The plot was kinda slow and dragged a bit. I felt like it took awhile to get things really going….it was a little past the halfway point of the book before I was able to get invested in what I was reading.
The romance was a little too PG and a little too predictable for me…but this is technically a YA book, so that can be expected.
Also, the whole “who is interested in who” ping ponged around a bit and some of it felt out of place and didn’t make sense.
IDK…I didn’t totally love or totally dislike this read….it was just in the “okay” category for me.
This is book 1 of a series but I didn’t know that until I sat down to write this…so I think it can be a stand alone novel. (although some of the shit that happens at the end totes make sense now that I know there is going to be a continuation of the story…..)
Am I gonna read book 2? Not sure. It releases in May of this upcoming year, so we will see where the literary winds lead me at that time…🤣