A review by shelleyanderson4127
Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

informative relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

 
This is a very interesting historical novel about a light-skinned enslaved woman in ante-bellum Virginia. As a young girl Pheby Brown was protected by her mother and her friendship with her enslaver's daughter. But when the daughter dies, and the master takes a new wife, Pheby's sheltered life is shattered.

She is sold by her enslaver's wife and marched to a notorious prison, dubbed the Devil's Half Acre, in Richmond, where the enslaved are broken and sold on. Pheby becomes the mistress of the jail's brutal owner, and bears him three daughters. The contradictions of her perilous position, on one hand privileged, on the other still enslaved and complicit in grooming other women, are clearly drawn. The author does a good job exploring Pheby's point of view and her struggle to survive and to protect her children.

This is a fast paced novel that reads quickly. What I found most interesting is the fact that the novel was based on the true story of a formerly enslaved woman named Mary Lumpkin. She arrived at the notorious Lumpkin's slave prison in Richmond, Virginia, as a child. Robert Lumpkin owned the prison and was the biggest slave trader in the city. Infamous for his cruelty, according to records he treated Mary and their five children as a family. 
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