The Yellow Wife

A Novel

De: Sadeqa Johnson

Narrado por: 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.

You will get trapped in the story.

This may be the most powerful story I've ever heard. There parts where I held my breath waiting to hear what happened next. It's sad and bitter sweet but it's a story I felt like I just had to hear.

You Must Listen and So Must Your Children

Anyone who is anyone that wants a deeper understanding of slavery, the absolutely horrible treatment, the r*pe and mistreatment of both the men and women, and how easily human life was tossed aside needs to listen and/ or read this book. It’s time to stop saying people need to “get over” slavery.

Incredible

I can not put into words how much I, and I struggle here, because enjoyed is such a strange word to use simply because of the subject matter. Cringeworthy does not begin to describe some of the graphic scenes depicted but the way it gives the reader an awareness of just how cruel and barbaric people were treated is jolting. i recommend this book so that people never forget.

Much better than I hoped!

Amazing story telling! 100+ for narration.
Be sure to listen to the epilogue. The author explains how this story came to be.

My top 20 list

I didn't read just once, but twice. The writing is vivid and at times breath taking.