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

by Ann Rinaldi

Book Overview

Sarah Henry, wife of the famous statesman Patrick Henry, is losing her mind, and she's secretly being kept in the cellar because she is a danger to herself and her children. Daughter Anne has a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152166874
• ISBN13: 9780152166878
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

A wonderful book

I read this book when I was 13 and I really liked it! I haven't read it since then but I would still recomend it.

A Great Book

This book was "required reading" for this past summer. I fliched at it before I read it. (Last years reading was horrid) I thought it was great though. (I do love history) It is very descriptive, and a farily easy read. I enjoyed it so much I picked up some other titles by Ann Rinaldi. I like the second half (Anne's) better. But never try to explain it to someone it becomes to complicated, but is still easy to read. I din't really like the ending, it was to abrupt for me. This book does take a while to get going, but once it does,it never stops!!!!

OR GIVE ME DEATH

This book touched my heart.I feel very sorry for Patsy, because she has to be the mistress of the house. Her mother's going crazy so she thinks its up to her to keep the family together. The dad is a lawyer so he's always on the road so he's never at home.One example that the mother's going crazy is that she tried to drown the 2 month old baby. She also tried to run naked in the garden.I hope i gave enough information for u to read my book review!!!

A Review from Scotchtown

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. [...]

Or Give Me Death...Awesome

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.