Just finished Property by Valerie Martin. It's basically the story of an antebellum female slaveowner, whom the author manages to portray sympathetically, showing that she's a product of her environment rather than pure evil personified. I enjoy the author's understated writing style - this book could easily have been made sensationalistic and unpleasant. I don't think the story itself was anything particularly profound, but it was an easy enough world to be drawn into and I did find myself caring about the characters. I didn't have to force myself to read, but I could put the book down easily enough. I finished the 193 page book in two weekend days. Overall, worth reading but I don't know if I'll read it again.