Or Give Me Death: A Novel of Patrick Henry's Family

Rating:
Summary: A Review from Scotchtown
Review: As a guide at Scotchtown, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and felt that Ms. Rinaldi brought the house to life with the voices of Mr. Henry's children. The Henry family dealt with complicated issues in growing up 200 years ago just as young people must deal with difficult issues today.

Just to clarify a point, however--Sarah was not kept in the dry well. Scotchtown has a summer bedroom in the English basement, which is very typical for any 18th century Virginia home, and it is there that Sarah stayed during her tragic illness. It has windows for sunlight and a fireplace for heat in winter. Given the options that Mr. Henry had for her care and that we believe he loved Sarah very much, it was the best he could do at the time. The dry well is a completely separate structure used only for food storage. [...]

Rating:
Summary: 3.5 stars. Satisfying, but not the best.
Review: Or Give Me Death by Ann Rinaldi. Began and finished December 18. 3.5 stars-Historical Fiction.

Or Give Me Death is a historical novel exploring the possibility that Patrick Henry's famous cry of "Give me liberty, or give me death!" was first spoken by his mad wife, imprisoned in his cellar. I found this to be an interesting concept, but wasn't impressed by the book. The book is divided into two parts: Patsy, the older, normal daughter, and Anne, the younger, wild-child daughter. Too much of the book was spent on the onset of Mrs. Henry's illness, and while you grow to sympathize with Patsy in this half, it is hard to feel for Anne without ending up disliking Patsy.

There was also really not much action here. Anne is finding herself, which is the main plot. She disguises herself as a boy at one part, and the exhilaration it gave her led me to believe that she would dress up as a boy again, and do something important. Anne rebels, but doesn't accomplish much other than getting the daughter of her friend and family's slave killed. There isn't really one plotline to follow with Anne. She basically tries out new things that she isn't allowed to do, without actually doing anything important.

I liked the Patsy section better because Patsy had a distinct conflict. She had a lot of responsibility and Rinaldi makes this apparent in the section. Patsy is easy to relate to and not flawless. She was portrayed very well in this novel as the "glue" that held the family together.

The ending was a really interesting twist. I won't give it away here, but the way the ending was employed was clever, and the whole book is much more interesting when you realize how much of the story was true.

Overall, this was a good book. The Patsy section was enjoyable, and while things seemed to start disintegrating around Anne's part of the book, the ending tied things together well and provided a satisfying, if sad, conclusion. I would recommend it for fans of historical fiction especially, though you may still enjoy this if you aren't.

Rating:
Summary: Or Give Me Death...Awesome
Review: Or Give Me Death is an awesome book. It gives you the perspective of Patrick Henry's two daughters, Patsy and Anne. They give their opinions on their mother who hs gone crazy and is being kept in the cellar of their home and each other. Patsy takes over as "head of the household" when their mother Sarah Henry goes "crazy" and tries to drown her son Edward. She gains an overwhelming amount of power very quickly. Patsy feels Anne has been turned against her and when she realizes that one of them might have their mother's madness she becomes very worried. Anne finds out who has inherited it but she doesn't want any of her family members to know who it is. Anne talks about how hard Patsy is on her. All around it is a very interesting book that history lovers and non-history lovers alike will love.

Rating:
Summary: Or Give Me Death...Awesome
Review: Or Give Me Death is an awesome book. It gives you the perspective of Patrick Henry's two daughters, Patsy and Anne. They give their opinions on their mother who hs gone crazy and is being kept in the cellar of their home and each other. Patsy takes over as "head of the household" when their mother Sarah Henry goes "crazy" and tries to drown her son Edward. She gains an overwhelming amount of power very quickly. Patsy feels Anne has been turned against her and when she realizes that one of them might have their mother's madness she becomes very worried. Anne finds out who has inherited it but she doesn't want any of her family members to know who it is. Anne talks about how hard Patsy is on her. All around it is a very interesting book that history lovers and non-history lovers alike will love.

Rating:
Summary: Delves Into a Famous Person's "Dark Side"
Review: Patrick Henry is known for his fiery cry of "Give me liberty or give me death"...but few realize the insanity of his wife or the breakdown of his family that may have set the scene for this historic remark.

In "Or Give Me Death," Rinaldi decides to have Patrick Henry's daughters, Patsy and Anne, narrate the story of their mother Sarah's decline into madness. Through the voices of these girls-dutiful older sister Patsy and rebelliously clever middle daughter Anne-readers are completely drawn into the complex issues that plagued the Henry family. The hopeless life of the mentally ill in Colonial times is vividly shown, but this novel also adeptly shows something more striking. Indeed, what readers will remember most from this novel is the timeless story of what holds a family together and what tears them apart.

Patsy and Anne both fascinatingly narrate the story. Rinaldi captures Patsy's sense of duty and stability, and convincingly portrays the pressure that she felt from her father to be the "glue" that held the family together. But even as one sympathizes with Patsy's dilemma, they will also feel for Anne. Through her eyes, Rinaldi shows how perhaps the entire Henry family went mad along with their mother and wife. Tensions resulting from secrets and grudges within the family are thoughtfully shown.

"Or Give Me Death" seems even more impressive when Rinaldi says in her author's note that although the entire story is not true, there are powerful "threads" of truth in it-enough truth that Rinaldi's interpretation could seem quite probable.

It is refreshing to find a new angle in the life of an almost-tired historical figure. "Or Give Me Death" generally makes this new view into the life of Patrick Henry's family a riveting one and one that is also filled with deftly included pieces of colonial history. Other than the seeming improbability of Sarah Henry's ability to predict the future, "Or Give Me Death" will please fans of historical fiction who want in a glimpse into a lesser-known chapter of history.