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The Yellow Wife

A Novel

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The Yellow Wife

Written by: Sadeqa Johnson
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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About this listen

A Best Book of the Year by NPR and Christian Science Monitor

Called “wholly engrossing” by New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Grissom, this “fully immersive” (Lisa Wingate, #1 bestselling author of Before We Were Yours) story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.

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.

©2021 Sadeqa Johnson. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction African American Historical Fiction

What the critics say

NPR Best Book of 2021

Christian Science Monitor Best Book of 2021
All stars
Most relevant
I couldn't stop! I was biting my nails. I was sweating. I was crying. I was celebrating and I was praying. Great characters. Although a novel, this book is based on true events and real people. I WILL listen again!

READ!

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A wonderful story that eloquently shares a terrible chapter in U.S history. Written with understanding & a lack of judgment.

Couldn't put it down

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This book is outstanding. It was difficult to listen to and impossible to put down. I
will miss this book, the narrator and the main character, Pheby. When books are this good, they leave me feeling hungover, and it will take time to get this story out of my so I can hear another. It’s astonishing to listen to, and the author’s note at the end will help you u d’état and why the story and the people in it feel so real. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Truth in fiction - don’t miss it

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I read the description of this book & was so intrigued that I pre-ordered(PO) it immediately. I normally don’t PO anything but food so of course, I agonized every week leading up to its release: “why would you PO a book you know nothing about! You’ve never even heard of this author!” Well, thank God my gut made me too lazy to reverse the PO because I. Couldn’t. Stop. Listening. To. This. Story. It felt like I was listening to my own ancestor telling me about her life. As Robin Miles narrated, I was nervous when characters were nervous, hoping for them like real family. The fact that this story is merely inspired by true events, and not a real, whole *ss slave narrative, makes me say, “Ms Sadeqa, you deserve all the flowers!” This was my first time reading her work, and I can’t wait to experience more.

When trusting your gut goes right insteada lef

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I've had this book on my TBR for sometime now and put it off. Simply because I didn't want to read anything related to slavery. My bookclub selected it as the October read....so decided to give it a shot.

and WHOA I was pleasantly surprised.

It was not as heavy as many of the other books I've read on the Slave Trade etc..granted it's Historical Fiction. I enjoyed it very much.

I really loved what the author did with Mary Lumpkins' story. I also found myself getting invested in a few of the characters.

The book flowed nicely from chapter to chapter.

I would recommend it.

A nice light touch

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I read this in two days! I could not put it down/stop listening. Sure the content is heavy but history always is. Despite it being a fictional story, Johnson has pulled from factual people and their experiences. And what a strong female character. Please be warned that there are a lot of uncomfortable scenes of physical/sexual/emotional violence towards the characters regardless of gender or age.

Harrowing but triumphant!

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A well written story that incorporates true to life details. A horrible era. Life and love and loss and survival. Very well written. The reader is wonderful in portraying all the characters. Based on true life of various people. Absolutely recommend this book.

Insiteful and heart wrenching

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The writing was so colourful, that coupled with the perfect narrator, I could see and smell the story

Robin miles brought every character to life!

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Pheby Delores Brown was sold and sent to a prison in Richmond, Virginia. There she was forced to become the concubine of the owner of the jail known as The Devil's Half-Acre. Ruben Lapier was a man who delighted in power and cruelty . It took everything for Pheby to survive and to protect her children. This book clearly portrays the evils of slavery. Even though the story was gruesome and difficult to stomach it was also hard to put down. Pheby was an extremely brave woman and I admired her courage. This book was based on the life of Mary Lumpkin who was the sex slave of the owner of Devil's Half-Acre in Richmond before The Civil War.

Horrors of Slavery

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