Property by Valerie Martin

Property is Valerie Martin's Orange Prize winning novel about slavery in the American South. The story involves a young woman, Manon Gaudet, who is the wife of a planter. As the novel opens, Manon is observing her husband as he plays at tormenting three young male slaves. Manon hates her husband, but has little choice in remaining with him. Among the things she hates about her husband is his lust for Sarah, a slave woman brought by Manon into the marriage. Sarah has borne two children to Manon's husband: a light-skinned, deaf boy called Walter and a dark-skinned baby girl. Manon has managed to deny her husband her bed for some time, so she cannot be too bothered by his attentions to Sarah.

A few weeks into the narrative, Manon's mother sickens with cholera, and Manon returns to New Orleans to care for her. Within a few days, Manon's mother has died, and Manon inherits her house and income. Still, Manon isn't free of her marriage, since everything she has inherited belongs to her husband. After her mother's affairs are wrapped up, Manon returns to her husband's plantation.

A slave insurrection follows shortly on Manon's return, and the events that take place change her life in some surprising ways.

Throughout the novel, it is not just the events that are of interest, but Manon's feelings about the events and people. The title Property seems to refer not only to the slaves, who are the property of Manon and her husband, but also to Manon, who is the property of her husband, and to the property that could give Manon a life she could enjoy.