The Rib King

 The first half of The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard is told from the perspective of August Sitwell. August is an employee of the Barker Family in New Orleans. The year is 1914. The Barkers usually take in three black orphans from the orphan home at a time. The orphans come when they are 13 and leave when they are 15. August was one of the orphans but he was the only one to stay with the family. Now he is 30 and employed as the groundskeeper of the Barker yard. The Barkers were once wealthy but are not wealthy anymore. The servants are paid but there is not enough money for groceries. The garden cannot provide all the food that is needed so the cook plants some things in the fields outside of town and also forages for greens and berries. Mr. Barker is negotiating to sell one of his factories to Mr. Pound. The lives of the family and all of the servants is riding on this deal. Mr. Pound, impressed by a sauce made by the cook, decides he will take the recipe and produce the sauce commercially using August's image on the label. The second half of the story is told by Jennie who was a maid at the Barker residence at the same time August was there. Now it is ten years later. Jennie owns her own hairdressing salon in town. She has developed a face cream that soothes the skin and can cure thrush. Jennie would really like to see her product on the shelves of stores. In her effort to get her product marketed, she is compelled to talk to August Sitwell again after ten years of no contact. The story is complicated. The themes are race and privilege and ambition. During these times in New Orleans there are labor strikes and riots going on. The book is part historical fiction and part crime story. The author is talented. When she writes about walking down the blocks in New Orleans or taking the bus to the other side of town, I can picture the scene exactly in my mind.