Title: Yellow Wife
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Publisher: Ink
Genre: Multicultural Historical Fiction
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Robin Miles
Length: 9 hrs 31 mins
No. of Pages: 278
Date of Publication: January 12, 2021
My Rating: 5 Stars
DESCRIPTION:
In the tradition of Wench and Twelve Years a Slave, this harrowing story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.
Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Brown was promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes around, instead of the idyllic life she was hoping for with her true love, she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby faces the ultimate sacrifice to protect her heart in this powerful, thrilling story of one slave’s fight for freedom.
Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Brown was promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes around, instead of the idyllic life she was hoping for with her true love, she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby faces the ultimate sacrifice to protect her heart in this powerful, thrilling story of one slave’s fight for freedom.
MY THOUGHTS:
I just completed the heartbreaking novel Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson. Set in pre–Civil War Virginia, this powerful work of historical fiction follows Pheby Delores Brown, a mixed-race young woman who longs for freedom. Her white father not only promises that she will one day be free, but also assures her she will receive an education and a future beyond the plantation.
Tragically, life has very different plans for Pheby. Her beloved Essex is torn from her despite their hopes of escaping together, and further heartbreak leads to her being sold into slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre jail. There, enslaved people endure horrifying and inhumane treatment while awaiting sale. Because of her light complexion, Pheby is singled out by the jail’s owner, Rubin Lapier, and forced into the role of his mistress, bearing several of his children.
Yet despite the cruelty surrounding her, Pheby emerges as a remarkable heroine. She helps those she can, raises her children with dignity and pride, and somehow maintains her humanity while living under constant fear that everything she loves could be taken away in an instant.
I rarely choose books centered on slavery because, as an empath, the pain feels almost unbearable. I read Roots when I was fifteen and watched the groundbreaking miniseries shortly afterward, and Yellow Wife stirred those same deep emotions in me. I felt profound empathy for Pheby, Essex, her fellow enslaved people, and especially her children, much like I did for Kunta Kinte all those years ago.
Pheby’s strength and resilience were extraordinary. The sacrifices she makes throughout the novel are both devastating and inspiring, and her story is one that will stay with me for a very long time, perhaps indefinitely.
Tragically, life has very different plans for Pheby. Her beloved Essex is torn from her despite their hopes of escaping together, and further heartbreak leads to her being sold into slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre jail. There, enslaved people endure horrifying and inhumane treatment while awaiting sale. Because of her light complexion, Pheby is singled out by the jail’s owner, Rubin Lapier, and forced into the role of his mistress, bearing several of his children.
Yet despite the cruelty surrounding her, Pheby emerges as a remarkable heroine. She helps those she can, raises her children with dignity and pride, and somehow maintains her humanity while living under constant fear that everything she loves could be taken away in an instant.
I rarely choose books centered on slavery because, as an empath, the pain feels almost unbearable. I read Roots when I was fifteen and watched the groundbreaking miniseries shortly afterward, and Yellow Wife stirred those same deep emotions in me. I felt profound empathy for Pheby, Essex, her fellow enslaved people, and especially her children, much like I did for Kunta Kinte all those years ago.
Pheby’s strength and resilience were extraordinary. The sacrifices she makes throughout the novel are both devastating and inspiring, and her story is one that will stay with me for a very long time, perhaps indefinitely.
Her previous novel, Yellow Wife, was named by Oprah Magazine as “27 of 2021 Most Anticipated Winter Historical Fiction books.” Yellow Wife was also a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award finalist for historical fiction, a 2022 Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy finalist, a BCALA Literary Honoree, the Library of Virginia’s Literary People’s Choice Award winner, and a Barnes & Noble book club pick in paperback.
Her latest novel, Keeper of Lost Children, explores how one American woman’s vision in post WWII Germany will change the course of countless lives. Originally from Philadelphia, Sadeqa currently lives near Richmond, Virginia.
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