A review by iamcaseyrkelley
The American Queen by Vanessa Miller

emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Once I got into this book, I could not put it down. Given that the current climate is either rewriting or erasing African American history, this is one of the most important works of our time. It is a story of perseverance and overcoming in spite of all the hardships that were presented to recently freed enslaved people. To know that people that were born enslaved built a community of over 500 families blew me a way. The amount of research the author did (included in the Author’s Note) was phenomenal and reminded me why I loved Yellow Wife. I loved Louella so much. She is the epitome of “men are the head but women are the neck and we can turn the head any way we want”. While both her and William are the king and queen, she is really the true leader of this kingdom. Learning that this was based on a true story has me wanting to visit South Carolina and pay respect to Happy Land.

If you liked Yellow Wife, Carolina Built, The Personal Librarian or The Great Mrs Elias, I highly recommend you read this one and learn about Queen Louella. It is another hidden secret of African American History that everyone should know and celebrate. You can’t call yourself an ally or advocate and not want to celebrate this beautiful fictionalized history of African Americans.

SN: this book does not include the graphic violence of Yellow Wife
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