The Yellow Wife

A Novel

By: Sadeqa Johnson

Narrated by: Robin Miles

From the New York Times bestselling author of House of Eve—a 2023 Reese’s Book Club Pick!

*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.

Omg! This book was amazing!!

I could not stop listening and THANK YOU to the amazing narrator because she made me feel as if I was sitting with her as she told the story !! This was a treat ! Such an amazing strong woman !

Such an intriguing story

By nature, I’m a numbers person, but I love to read. I typically don’t love historical fiction. However, this book was such a great story! I finished it in just two days because I could not put it down. The storyline was awesome. The narration was excellent. On top of it all, I learned a few things that I did not know about in the referenced time frame. I HIGHLY recommend!!

The Yellow Wife

To say this audiobook was enjoyable would be hideous. It was a interesting, sometimes captivating story of the slave trade business in the South before the end of the Civil War. At times, it was extremely difficult to listen to. Although fiction, the book was well researched, and the descriptions were vivid. The characters were based on real people and their experiences as slaves and slave owners. It kept me engaged, and held my interest. The narrator was very good and made the story come alive. I would recommend this audiobook to those interested in this era.

Amazing

I love slave narratives and this one does not disappoint. It’s a wonderful culmination of heartache, love, survival and triumph. Sadeqa Johnson is an amazing writer. Much attention to detail it’s easy to visual the story. Robin Miles is magnificent as the narrator.

Yellow wife

Amazing book kept me on the edge of my seat full of history and very well written.