Valerie Martin's New Estate is the captivating story of the wife of a slave owner and a slave, who was the slave owner's mistress , at the end of the 18th century in New Orleans. Martin guides you through the lives of Manon Guadet and her servant Sarah, while Mme Gaudet lives unhappily married on a plantation and Sarah lives unhappily on the plantation. Madame Gaudet's unhappy character comes from the misfortune of being married to a man whom she despises and does not love. Sarah, the slave, is only unhappy because she is a slave and has unwittingly conceived children by Mrs. Gaudiest's husband, which rightly makes Sarah a mistress. Throughout the book, Martin captivates the reader and allows you to put yourself in the characters' shoes and it's almost like you can understand what the characters are feeling. Throughout the novel, Martin allows his readers to feel a kind of sympathy for Manon. and Sarah, and even at one point in the novel, we even feel a certain sympathy for Manon's husband. Stops frequently, Manon's mother asks her why she doesn't want to conceive her husband's baby, her mother and her husband think she should see a doctor, but the doctor tells her she is healthy and she is capable of conceiving, but the fact is Manon doesn't want to. She sees that she is already not happy with this man, why should she have children with him which would only make her closer to him than she already is. Sarah, the slave and mistress, had two children by the slave owner. Walter, a deaf and uncontrollable 8 year old boy and Nell, a 6 month old little girl. Manon despises the children and Sarah. There is nothing else Manon wants other than a loving and faithful husband and not to live in the middle of paper...... her husband just died. Her husband spent most of his nights with the couple's personal servant, Sarah, who conceived the man's children. Mrs. Gaudet also doesn't like children just because they remind her a lot of her husband. Manon soon finds freedom when her husband is assassinated by African-American rebels.Quotes• Martin, Valérie. 1st ed. United States: Nan a. Talese, 2003. 3-193. • Fraser, Liz, ed. “Book club”. (2003).• “Slave Rebellion”. August 29, 2007. • “Slave Rebellions.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007. • “Valérie Martin”. Wikipedia. May 20, 2007. • “Valérie Martin”. Random House, INC.. 2007 .