Yellow Wife - Review

I received a digital copy from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley. All reviews are my own.

So, funny story. I recently posted a mini-rant video about Libby’s hold time for my next read on Instagram. For those who are unfamiliar, Libby is a digital app provided by your local library that offers a wide range of digital content, including books, audiobooks, movies, magazines, comics, and more. To use this wonderful outlet, all you need is a library card, and you’re ready to go! Anyway, in my rant reel, I mentioned that I had placed a hold on Yellow Wife back in April, and an entire four months passed before I started screaming and hollering about still being in line for the book ... until it became available three days later. Did you know I devoured that book in two days? TWO DAYS! You know a story has to be fire if I finished it before the week is out. After having the galley for almost three years and an extended wait time of a quarter, I finally present my review of Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson.

Of course, I listened to this novel via audio, with a newcomer to my ears, Robin Miles, narrating. The story took 9 hours and 31 minutes to complete. Miles was perfect for this title. I don’t know what else to say about her. This story was made for her to narrate, and she performed as if I were watching a narrative documentary on cable TV.

I’m mad at myself for getting to this book so late. I understand the hype. Yellow Wife is a coming-of-age slave story about a 17-year-old girl named Pheby Delores Brown, who had the “better life” as an enslaved person. Sheltered by her mother, who was the medicine woman, fathered by the Enslaver, and educated by the Master’s sister, Pheby didn’t quite fit in with the others and didn’t have to endure most of what the others had been through. Right before her 18th birthday, her mother dies, and so is her promise of freedom, as the Master’s spiteful wife sends Pheby off to Devil’s Half Acre, Virginia’s notorious slave auction jail, to be sold as a whore. From there, she learns quickly that not all is always as promised and that there is always a lesser evil to choose from.

From the first page and beyond, the story was non-stop. As soon as I started the book, it jumped right in. There was no buildup, no introductions, no fluff, and no call to Jesus. Just straight to the point storytelling, and I liked that for this narrative. What I appreciated most about the story was that it wasn’t overdone. Don’t get me wrong, some details are gory and are not for the weak, but it was still tactful in a sense that it didn’t feel like another slave setting story. No rage bait and sensational writing over here! We have a young woman who got with the program and tried to make it work out for herself and the people she cared for.

Now it’s been a while since I read something historically written (Fantasy has been taking up a lot of my time). Still, I mentioned in a previous review that I would start comparing the accuracy of the historical elements to the Fiction. Though Pheby Delores Brown is not a real person, her story was inspired by Robert Lumpkins (Jail Master), Mary Lumpkins (his wife), and Anthony Burns (a slave fugitive). Robert Lumpkins was known as one of the most evil yet, a family man who ran the Devil’s Half Acre jail in Virginia. He purchased a light-skinned slave, Mary, married her, and she bore five children for him. Anthony Burns’s character was a mixture of the Preacher Pheby used to attend church with, and Essex, the love of Pheby’s life. These people and the location setting were the inspiration that prompted Johnson to write Yellow Wife. Ya’ll should check out her Author’s Note for book recommendations when you get the chance.

Overall, I rated this book 5-stars. I know, right?! This marks my fourth 5-star read for the year. Yellow Wife was a quick story that was worth the three years and a quarter wait. Though it was loosely based on actual historical figures and places, the story was written in a way that felt like its own. It wasn’t too heavy, and its message was clear and concise. I am off to the next review, which may be another Sadeqa Johnson production. I do have a copy of The House of Eve, and after experiencing her writing, I may bump this up the TBR pile for my next read.

Yellow Wife is available now!

#TheLittLibrarian #Review #HistoricalFiction #ComingtoAge