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Chapters 1-5

• In Chapter 1, Suzette, a slave in 1834, tells her mistress that Elizabeth, Suzette’s mother, did not make the master sick with her cooking. Suzette says it is the master’s drinking that causes his illness. Suzette is slapped.

• Suzette pees on her mistress’s, Francoise, favorite rose bush the next day. Suzette is nursemaid to Francoise’s niece, Oreline. The two girls are the same age and Suzette has lived in the big house most of her life.

• Suzette gets to see Suzette’s godmother, a free woman named Doralise Derbanne, who is the acknowledged daughter of Francoise’s husband Louise Derbanne.

• Suzette’s mother is the plantation’s cook and Suzette’s father, Gerasime, works in the fields. He also plays the fiddle and is often sent to other plantations to provide music.

• Suzette asks Oreline to teach her to read but Oreline refuses. Oreline...

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