Reviews with content warning for Blood - Yellow Wife

Title: Yellow Wife
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: January 12, 2021

T H R E E • W O R D S

Harrowing • Graphic • Impactful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

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.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I quickly moved this to the top of my TBR after reading The House of Eve in 2023. Much has already been said (all well deserved) about Yellow Wife, so I don't know that there is much that I can add that hasn't already been said. Inspired by the story of Mary Lumpkin and the Lumpkin's jail in Richmond, Virgina, Sadeqa Johnson has delivered one for the ages.

What a roller coaster of emotions! A story of survival, this narrative delves deeply into the sickening realities of the slavery experience in the 1850s. More specifically, it examines the biracial experience. I was angry. I was heartbroken. I was unsettled. I was ashamed. Yet, there is also a thread of hope.

Pheby is one of those characters I will never forget. She is so fierce and loyal. It is through her sacrifice that the reader is privy to the depths of a mother's love. Despite being enslaved, the characters demonstrate unconditional love, how they bond together in community, and how they create moments of joy with their families.

The writing is absolutely phenomenal even if there was room for more character development. It sure packs a lot into its 275 pages. It's evident Johnson has done her research and proceeds to pay homage in a realistic and compassionate manner.

Yellow Wife is one of the best historical fiction novels I have ever read and it is a story I won't soon forget. It's a book that deserves a place in classrooms across North America. It is deeply unsettling, yet a realistic depiction of the times. Do yourself a favour and read this book!

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• historical fiction
• stories inspired by real people and events
• learning

⚠️ CW: slavery, racism, racial slurs, rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, hate crime, violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, murder, death, child death, death of parent, grief, confinement, torture, blood, injury/injury detail, excrement, vomit, misogyny, trafficking, pregnancy, miscarriage, sexual content, classism, colorism, kidnapping

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"To survive this, I could not let my mind succumb to the misery that threatened to strangle me."

"You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you didn’t know."

Content Warnings

maries_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

TW: slavery, racism, rape, child loss, torture, sexual assault, child abuse, grief, miscarriage.

Mild spoilers.

An extremely powerful story based on Mary Lumpkin, a biracial “sex slave” of Robert Lumpkin - a sadistic and notorious slave trader and jailer in Richmond, VA. Pheby Delores Brown (based on Mary), is a biracial slave living on a plantation in Virginia. Her mother was raped by their slave owner, thus had Pheby. Pheby is treated better than most others on the plantation, given an education in both school subjects and arts. When the slave owner marries, Pheby is quickly targeted by the woman of the house, for her relationship to her husband, and because she’s too educated. After her mother’s and owners death, Pheby is sold to slave traders and taken to the notorious Devils Half Acre in Richmond (a real jail). There, she is purchased by the Jailer himself, and taken to be his “mistress.” Pheby learns to do what she can to survive, and her story continues in a heartbreaking tale of survival, loss, love for her children, and hope.

Ms. Johnson encapsulated Phebys emotions so well. I feel transported back with her inner dialogue. I cried for and with Pheby. I reflected and continued to learn about America’s truly, truly abominable history. Ms. Johnson is a powerful writer, storyteller, and visionary. With this book alone, she has become an auto-buy author for me.

My only “issue” with the writing was that some of the chapters seemed like they had a time jump but in reality it was picking up right where the last chapter left off. I had to restart several chapters because I thought she was speaking days or weeks later, only to realize it was mere hours. Otherwise a perfect book.

Content Warnings

drnaynay's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-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

2.0

SPOILER ALERT: A woman conceived by rape of her mom by the slave master, was sold into another form of slavery, and because she was “yellow” was chosen/forced to be the wife of her new master who ran a horrifically brutal jail for runaway slaves. If forced institutionalization, rape, and horrific details of slave torture is your thing, you will love this book 😵‍💫 I was completely disturbed through this whole book. I had mixed feelings between whether this is just another sensationalization/fetishization of Black women/Black people’s trauma or if there is really some value in the examination of this story through a historical lens. It was really gruesome and hard for me to read. I think you can guess where I landed.

Content Warnings

catwomano's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional inspiring 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

Content Warnings

corriejn's review

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

A story of an enslaved, mixed-race woman and the various choices people were faced with to try and improve their situations, retain their sense of identity and humanity, and protect their loved ones, within the brutal system of chattel slavery in the U.S. I appreciated the author's note at the end describing what of the main events/situations in the novel were inspired by real historical situations she'd learned of. Definitely not a light read, but a complex story and characters with personhood and agency.

Content Warnings

bambicat234's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

melissa_h's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

A realistic historical story about slavery. Dark, difficult.

Content Warnings

More...