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rosemwood's review against another edition
5.0
I was disappointed with how the author ended this story otherwise it was a great story!
_ebonishae_'s review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jpederson4's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
3.0
TW: rape, murder, physical assault, descriptions of routine sexual abuse of Black women of undisclosed age, period typical mistreatment of Black people involving the slave trade, period typical mistreatment of Black people in general
I was on the waiting list for this book for ages. I was super excited to receive it, so much so I practically inhaled it once given the chance. While it kept me enthralled it was not as amazing as it initially started off being.
Yellow Wife is the harrowing story of Pheby Brown: the product of the all too common nonconsensual coupling between slave and slave master. Promised her freedom only to have it ripped away by the jealous, wrathful slave master’s wife, she now must learn to survive under abominable circumstances as the ‘wife’ of a man infamous for his depravity.
At first I was enormously invested in Pheby’s journey. Unlike a lot of slave masters, Pheby’s father acknowledged his parentage of Pheby, indulging her as a result. Life under him was as good as it gets for a slave especially when his sister was alive as she made sure Pheby was exceptionally educated. Pheby can read, write, play the piano, and talk as well as any white person - the highest of compliments.
What I found interesting about this was that at face value this seems like a great gift. Slaves were property so to educate them was silly not to mention dangerous as it gave them a pathway to run. Pheby was not only taught, but expected to go to a fancy Northern preparatory academy. This kind of opportunity was largely unheard of. Yet, at the same time this wonderful opportunity was a great burden; it gave Pheby an overinflated sense of self creating a mindset that a Black slave, let alone a Black female slave, absolutely could not afford to have. Pheby knew her own worth at a time when knowing ones’ worth could and did get you killed.
It helped her to overcome her immediate hurdle at the Devil’s Half-Acre only to bind her even further in the long-term as she settled into complacence in order to experience the same level of luxury she was previously accustomed to. Her self-awareness arguably made it worse than if she were ignorant as she had tasted a measure of ascension totally foreign to most only to have it forcefully, cruelly ripped from her hands.
I don’t fault her for assimilating. As lucky as she was, she was still a slave. I can’t imagine the mental turmoil the difficult choices she had to make put her through. I did not always approve of her decisions especially towards the end, however, I can acknowledge I have the privilege of looking at them from the outside in a time where slavery is not standard practice. My modern beliefs are only somewhat applicable and sadly, idealistic. Her options were extremely limited. What else could she really do?
This creates a fascinating dichotomy within her to observe. Even though she’s Black, as a white passing Black person she does experience a modicum of privilege particularly in Richmond where such arrangements between white passing Black women and their slave owners is recurrent amongst the higher up slave masters. This is not always the case, of course, but light skinned slaves could have ‘better’ situations as lightness is close to whiteness.
As such Pheby adopts a similar attitude to that of the whites around her. She never totally forgets her place, of course, but you can feel the normalization in her actions as well as her words. The same thing that has saved her in one regard has damned her in another; the way the cognitive dissonance warps her thought patterns is two parts agonizing and one part, frustrating.
Her treatment of the other slaves in her household or her overseeing the dirty business of readying girls to be raped by their new owners - men come to the jail to purchase slaves and often ‘sample’ the women in the adjoining tavern before taking them home - causes her to be very superior. She relishes in the power she has over others because it’s all she has. Yet, this power is faux, bestowed upon her only as long as she plays the perfect little housewife for a man she abhors. It was sickening to read about her making these young women pretty for their rapists so casually as if it’s nothing. Then the story would shift to violently remind you of how phony her position of dominance was.
Now, onto what negatively impacted my rating.
The book takes place primarily at Devil’s Half Acre where nothing much happens until the last quarter when a pivotal character shows up at the jail to kick-off the ‘thrilling’ aspect. Before that it’s a mostly repetitive look at Pheby’s everyday life. Even after a time-skip it remains largely the same. On a character level I found it absorbing, but as the third act sharply, abruptly picked up it brought into stark relief how much page time was wasted beforehand that could have been spent further exploring the universe.
I’ve found a lot of slavery books do this. The white enslavement of Black people in America is very well known and extensively documented. Therefore, writers will often not take the time to craft the world like they might normally because the assumption is that the reader already has an understanding of it. To a point, I’d agree - you read about one plantation, you’re read about them all. However, I feel this is a detriment as it can make the story feel a little played out if the author has not taken the time to differentiate it to some degree. Also it feels lazy since there is no guarantee every reader is American or particularly cognizant of American history.
And while I know it’s a true to life barrier for slave women attempting to run away, oftentimes done on purpose to keep the women shackled to the plantation, it was still predictable that Pheby “facing the ultimate sacrifice” involved children. I knew just from reading the description that the kid thing would be it because that literally is always the big obstacle to freedom in these kinds of books. It’s partially why I found The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead so refreshing - not a kid in sight in that book.
The third act was rushed because it was over-stuffed. Rather than build the arcs up to this point it hits a fever pitch out of nowhere because the time-skip made it impossible to logically follow the development from A to B without using conjecture to supplement the gaps. Pheby’s actions are erratic. I understand the significance of the arrival to Devil’s Half Acre. I also understand how this could cause her to regress. It’s just that most of that was me drawing conclusions in my own head rather than supported by tangible evidence. I wish there was more input from Pheby herself in-text to get a feel for how those intervening years shaped her present self. The time-skip limits her perspective in that after it happens, it’s already been a few years and thus, she is settled in her skin already. How this transition affected her or those around her is a moot point.
The very end is unnecessary as it poses questions that it can’t answer. It borders on wish fulfillment as I am missing crucial context due to my unfamiliarity with the time period as well as the lack of world-building making it seem like a totally far-fetched outcome. It’s entirely possible that this was a real-life conclusion. I have no way of knowing that though because I have no idea of what the politics of the world outside of Devil’s Half-Acre was like aside from my assumptions.
I appreciate the look into the future. I appreciate the ending itself as I liked where it put Pheby. What I didn’t appreciate is that not only is too much squished into the epilogue, it's also bothersome that all of the events that occur in this epilogue would have made a great addition to the actual novel. I feel like the central focus of the book is way off because it does not have a distinct conflict throughout, it’s only present in the last quarter. Shifting the third act conflict to the middle, and making the epilogue the bulk of the second half would have made for a much more insightful, compelling read overall.
I liked this book a lot. It may not have delivered entirely on its premise, in my opinion, but it was still a good book. It was competently written, Pheby for all her flaws is a realistic, sympathetic protagonist, and it offers a perspicacious commentary on the fluctuating often hypocritical rules of racial prejudice in the United States.
I was on the waiting list for this book for ages. I was super excited to receive it, so much so I practically inhaled it once given the chance. While it kept me enthralled it was not as amazing as it initially started off being.
Yellow Wife is the harrowing story of Pheby Brown: the product of the all too common nonconsensual coupling between slave and slave master. Promised her freedom only to have it ripped away by the jealous, wrathful slave master’s wife, she now must learn to survive under abominable circumstances as the ‘wife’ of a man infamous for his depravity.
At first I was enormously invested in Pheby’s journey. Unlike a lot of slave masters, Pheby’s father acknowledged his parentage of Pheby, indulging her as a result. Life under him was as good as it gets for a slave especially when his sister was alive as she made sure Pheby was exceptionally educated. Pheby can read, write, play the piano, and talk as well as any white person - the highest of compliments.
What I found interesting about this was that at face value this seems like a great gift. Slaves were property so to educate them was silly not to mention dangerous as it gave them a pathway to run. Pheby was not only taught, but expected to go to a fancy Northern preparatory academy. This kind of opportunity was largely unheard of. Yet, at the same time this wonderful opportunity was a great burden; it gave Pheby an overinflated sense of self creating a mindset that a Black slave, let alone a Black female slave, absolutely could not afford to have. Pheby knew her own worth at a time when knowing ones’ worth could and did get you killed.
It helped her to overcome her immediate hurdle at the Devil’s Half-Acre only to bind her even further in the long-term as she settled into complacence in order to experience the same level of luxury she was previously accustomed to. Her self-awareness arguably made it worse than if she were ignorant as she had tasted a measure of ascension totally foreign to most only to have it forcefully, cruelly ripped from her hands.
I don’t fault her for assimilating. As lucky as she was, she was still a slave. I can’t imagine the mental turmoil the difficult choices she had to make put her through. I did not always approve of her decisions especially towards the end, however, I can acknowledge I have the privilege of looking at them from the outside in a time where slavery is not standard practice. My modern beliefs are only somewhat applicable and sadly, idealistic. Her options were extremely limited. What else could she really do?
This creates a fascinating dichotomy within her to observe. Even though she’s Black, as a white passing Black person she does experience a modicum of privilege particularly in Richmond where such arrangements between white passing Black women and their slave owners is recurrent amongst the higher up slave masters. This is not always the case, of course, but light skinned slaves could have ‘better’ situations as lightness is close to whiteness.
As such Pheby adopts a similar attitude to that of the whites around her. She never totally forgets her place, of course, but you can feel the normalization in her actions as well as her words. The same thing that has saved her in one regard has damned her in another; the way the cognitive dissonance warps her thought patterns is two parts agonizing and one part, frustrating.
Her treatment of the other slaves in her household or her overseeing the dirty business of readying girls to be raped by their new owners - men come to the jail to purchase slaves and often ‘sample’ the women in the adjoining tavern before taking them home - causes her to be very superior. She relishes in the power she has over others because it’s all she has. Yet, this power is faux, bestowed upon her only as long as she plays the perfect little housewife for a man she abhors. It was sickening to read about her making these young women pretty for their rapists so casually as if it’s nothing. Then the story would shift to violently remind you of how phony her position of dominance was.
Now, onto what negatively impacted my rating.
The book takes place primarily at Devil’s Half Acre where nothing much happens until the last quarter when a pivotal character
Spoiler
her old love interest who is being made an example of for masquerading as a free man in the northI’ve found a lot of slavery books do this. The white enslavement of Black people in America is very well known and extensively documented. Therefore, writers will often not take the time to craft the world like they might normally because the assumption is that the reader already has an understanding of it. To a point, I’d agree - you read about one plantation, you’re read about them all. However, I feel this is a detriment as it can make the story feel a little played out if the author has not taken the time to differentiate it to some degree. Also it feels lazy since there is no guarantee every reader is American or particularly cognizant of American history.
And while I know it’s a true to life barrier for slave women attempting to run away, oftentimes done on purpose to keep the women shackled to the plantation, it was still predictable that Pheby “facing the ultimate sacrifice” involved children. I knew just from reading the description that the kid thing would be it because that literally is always the big obstacle to freedom in these kinds of books. It’s partially why I found The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead so refreshing - not a kid in sight in that book.
The third act was rushed because it was over-stuffed. Rather than build the arcs up to this point it hits a fever pitch out of nowhere because the time-skip made it impossible to logically follow the development from A to B without using conjecture to supplement the gaps. Pheby’s actions are erratic. I understand the significance of the arrival to Devil’s Half Acre. I also understand how this could cause her to regress. It’s just that most of that was me drawing conclusions in my own head rather than supported by tangible evidence. I wish there was more input from Pheby herself in-text to get a feel for how those intervening years shaped her present self. The time-skip limits her perspective in that after it happens, it’s already been a few years and thus, she is settled in her skin already. How this transition affected her or those around her is a moot point.
The very end is unnecessary as it poses questions that it can’t answer. It borders on wish fulfillment as I am missing crucial context due to my unfamiliarity with the time period as well as the lack of world-building making it seem like a totally far-fetched outcome. It’s entirely possible that this was a real-life conclusion. I have no way of knowing that though because I have no idea of what the politics of the world outside of Devil’s Half-Acre was like aside from my assumptions.
I appreciate the look into the future. I appreciate the ending itself as I liked where it put Pheby. What I didn’t appreciate is that not only is too much squished into the epilogue, it's also bothersome that all of the events that occur in this epilogue would have made a great addition to the actual novel. I feel like the central focus of the book is way off because it does not have a distinct conflict throughout, it’s only present in the last quarter. Shifting the third act conflict to the middle, and making the epilogue the bulk of the second half would have made for a much more insightful, compelling read overall.
I liked this book a lot. It may not have delivered entirely on its premise, in my opinion, but it was still a good book. It was competently written, Pheby for all her flaws is a realistic, sympathetic protagonist, and it offers a perspicacious commentary on the fluctuating often hypocritical rules of racial prejudice in the United States.
mattiehatter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
helloimshadyj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
readingonmountains's review against another edition
5.0
I read this cover to cover on Mother’s Day, and thought it to be a perfect read to celebrate mothers, their unwavering love and their struggles & sacrifices for their children.
The subjects of slavery, violence & rape aren’t the easiest to read, but this book was beautifully written and I felt strong underlying hope throughout the story.
Highly recommend this one. And I was surprised at the end to learn that St. Catherine’s, Ontario was a prominent terminus stop on the Underground Railroad. Having grown up in St. Catherine’s this was not something I learned.
The subjects of slavery, violence & rape aren’t the easiest to read, but this book was beautifully written and I felt strong underlying hope throughout the story.
Highly recommend this one. And I was surprised at the end to learn that St. Catherine’s, Ontario was a prominent terminus stop on the Underground Railroad. Having grown up in St. Catherine’s this was not something I learned.
_jamaicangirlreads85's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0