Books of Wonder

A Sitting in St. James (Sale)

A Sitting in St. James (Sale) - Main image
$8.99 $17.99 In stock

Category: Products

An unmissable tour de force from three-time National Book Award finalist and Coretta Scott King Award–winning author Rita Williams-Garcia, who memorably tells the stories of one white family and the enslaved people who work for them. Essential reading for teens and adults who are grappling with our country’s history of racism. 

This astonishing novel about the interwoven lives of those bound to a plantation in antebellum America is an epic masterwork—empathetic, brutal, and entirely human.

1860, Louisiana. After serving as mistress of Le Petit Cottage for more than six decades, Madame Sylvie Guilbert has decided, in spite of her family’s indifference, to sit for a portrait.

But there are other important stories to be told on the Guilbert plantation. Stories that span generations, from the big house to out in the fields, of routine horrors, secrets buried as deep as the family fortune, and the tangled bonds of descendants and enslaved. 

*IMPORTANT*

Please note: these books may bear remainder marks and may show some shelf wear.

All sale books are FINAL SALE and may not be returned or exchanged

Customer Reviews (4.8 / 5 · 18 reviews)

Penelope U. ★★★★★

The storylines weave together so seamlessly that I found myself sneaking in extra chapters during lunch breaks—the historical detail feels lived-in rather than researched. For the sale price, this is an absolute steal on a book that reads like a literary heavyweight.

Ellie U. ★★★★★

Three-time National Book Award finalist means something here—the prose is so layered I had to slow down and savor whole chapters about this white family's tangled history. Snagged it on sale but I'd have paid full price for this kind of storytelling.

Lily ★★★★★

I was skeptical that a book about a white family in Louisiana would hold my interest, but Williams-Garcia’s storytelling is so layered and human that I finished it in two sittings. The historical detail feels lived-in, not researched, and every character—even the unlikeable ones—stays with you.