{Book Review} Yellow Wife: A Novel by Sadeqa Johnson

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BOOK DETAILS

Title: Yellow Wife: A Novel

Author: Sadeqa Johnson

Publisher: 37 Ink

Publication Date: 28 December 2021

Genre: African American Fiction, Historical Fiction, Popular Fiction

Format: Paperback

Print Length: 288 pages

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from the book)

Sadeqa Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of five novels. Her most recent novel, The House of Eve, was an instant New York Times bestseller, Reese’s Book Club selection, NAACP Image Award nominee, and Goodreads Choice award finalist. Her previous novel, Yellow Wife, was the Library of Virginia’s Literary People’s Choice Award winner, Goodreads Choice Award finalist, Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy finalist, and a BCALA Literary Award honoree. Originally from Philadelphia, Sadeqa currently lives near Richmond, Virginia. For more information, go to Sadeqa.net.

ABOUT THE BOOK (from the book)

Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world.

She’d been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond, Virginia, where the enslaved are broken, tortured, and sold every day. There, Pheby is exposed not just to her Jailer’s cruelty but also to his contradictions. To survive, Pheby will have to outwit him, and she soon faces the ultimate sacrifice.

BOOK REVIEW

My Thoughts

Beautifully written story that details the horrors of slavery, while exploring the depths of a mother’s love and a woman’s passion for those she cares about. Pheby is a complex character, who is written with a depth and a fragileness that hardens as she grows into her role as the “yellow wife” of a slave trader/breaker/jailer. When she first arrives at Devil’s Half-Acre, she’s little more than a favorite pet who has been abandoned, but as the story unfolds, she becomes this woman who uses her position and medicinal knowledge to help her family, friends, and the enslaved as best she could. She doesn’t try to sanitize her role in the selling of human flesh. In fact, she acknowledges that she is both accomplice and victim and her goal is to make the victims as comfortable as possible for as long as she possibly can.

Even the side characters have depth, that grows as the story develops. Their stories remained with me long after I read the last sentence. Elsie, July, Abbie, and the others were empathetic and caring, their voices helped to propel the story and kept the action moving. And Essex’s spirit was all over the story and at the heart of everything that Pheby did. Even the other “yellow wives” helped with the pacing and the storytelling. The Jailer was harsh and his methods were brutal, but there was also a weird tenderness that was shown in his interactions with Pheby and their children. It was definitely abusive and manipulative, but you can see how Pheby could almost slip into believing that he loved her and their children.

While this novel is character driven, one of the strongest characters in this book is Devil’s Half Acre, the jail site in Richmond, Virginia, on which Pheby is to spend the rest of her life. The land is a living, breathing organism with its own rhythms and smells and sounds. I didn’t know this novel is loosely based on the true story of Robert Lumpkin and his marriage to a mixed-race enslaved woman named Mary. This land would become the starting grounds for the Richmond Theological School for Freedmen {now Virginia Union University}. You can read more about that by clicking this link. It’s truly fascinating. You can read about Mary Lumpkin here.

Additionally, this may be the first novel that I’ve read that addresses the role of white women in maintaining the institution of of slavery and the impact on Black families. I thought it especially interesting that Sadeqa Johnson dealt with the sexual exploitation of male slaves by female enslavers; this was definitely a new and unexpected twist.

Favorite Quote 

…I would read, only allowing myself twenty pages so that I could make the book last. Oliver Twist, my friend deep into the night, helped me to cope. {page 113}

Enslaved people were banned from reading, however, Pheby had been taught to do so by the sister of her previous owner; she understood the dangers and the importance of freedom in books.

The Cover Art

Beautiful cover that appropriately conveys the story within the pages. The image is haunting, much like the details of the story. The removal of Pheby’s head and face reflects the reality that her body belonged to The Jailer, but her head, her mind, was her own. Throughout the book, she tells her son, Monroe, to remember that “You his slave in name only, never in your mind.” This was her guiding principle, which she passed down to her children and the innumerable lives that she touched.

Companion Reads | Viewing 

Books

• The Devil’s Half Acre by Kristen Green
• They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
• The Book of Lost Friends: A Novel by Lisa Wingate
• Alex Haley’s Queen: The Story of an American Family by Alex Haley

Television

• Underground – Hulu

Recommended For

Historical fiction fans. Book clubs.

Trigger Warnings

Slavery. Language. Murder. Sexual Abuse. Torture.

IT’S YOUR TURN

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? Let’s discuss in the comments below. If you haven’t, feel free to purchase the book using the link below.

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BOOKISH THINGS

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Happy Reading,

 

 

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