📚 Yellow Wife: A Novel by Sadeqa JohnsonBook Review by Mariah V. | Chapter and Charms

“You are only a slave in name. Never in your mind.”

In the tradition of Wench and Twelve Years a Slave, Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson is a powerful and harrowing historical fiction novel inspired by real events. It follows Pheby Delores Brown, a young enslaved woman born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, who is promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. But instead of the life she dreams of with her true love, she is thrust into the terrifying world of the Devil’s Half-Acre, the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.

There, Pheby is forced to become the mistress of the brutal jailer who owns the prison. As she navigates daily horror and survival, she must make unthinkable sacrifices to protect what matters most: her children and her sense of self.

💛 My Thoughts on 

Yellow Wife

Big sigh on this one. Yellow Wife was a difficult but necessary read. I had to take multiple breaks just to catch my breath, but I’m so glad I pushed through. Stories like this are crucial. Though fiction, it’s rooted in truth,drawing inspiration from the real-life story of Mary Lumpkin and Lumpkin’s Jail in Richmond, Virginia. It serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the horrors of slavery and the emotional toll that comes with reading about it.

Sadeqa Johnson’s writing is meticulous and deeply researched. The emotional weight of this story is immense. Readers should be aware that, despite the book’s beautiful cover, the content is intense and requires emotional preparation. This isn’t light reading, it’s history, pain, strength, and survival all wrapped in one unforgettable narrative.

What stood out to me most was Pheby’s strength. She is a fiercely determined mother who sacrifices everything for her children’s safety. Her resilience and inner courage made me think deeply about the strength of Black women during slavery,especially those forced into the roles of mistresses simply because of their lighter skin. Yellow Wife provides a rare, raw perspective on what it meant to be biracial, enslaved, and forced to play the “white woman of the house,” all while being treated as property.

The novel also highlights how colorism was weaponized and used to divide enslaved people. It’s a hard truth to face, but Johnson doesn’t shy away from it—and neither should we. It made me sick to my stomach at times, but it also reminded me just how much strength our ancestors had. We are not our ancestors in the sense that we likely couldn’t bear what they endured, but it’s because of their endurance that we are here.

Reading Yellow Wife reminded me never to take our history for granted. There was a time when just knowing how to read could lead to torture. This book broke my soul, but it also filled it with reverence. It is a story that demands to be remembered.

⭐ Final Rating: 5/5 stars

If you’ve read Yellow Wife, I’d love to hear your thoughts. How did it make you feel? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

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