Trials & Tribulations of Modesty Greene

A Fictional Novel About Harriet Tubman's Historical Legacy

De: DW Plato

Narrado por: Tishelle Peterson, Nene Nwoko, Machelle Williams

In 1789, Mo’destee Vert was a Senegambia teenager in love and happier than ever as she prepard to become an adult.

Everything changed when white strangers speaking a foreign language attacked her village. After a grueling voyage across the ocean, she found herself labeled Modesty Greene, slave. She became the property of Robert Banks, a plantation owner in Dorchester County, Maryland. At night, she dreamed of her home in Africa. She longed to see her brother and parents, but mostly, she missed the man that never became her husband. Modesty just wanted to be happy and normal. Would becoming a mother and moving to a new plantation be better or worse? At least she would be far away from Robert Banks.

Years later, Araminta Ross, aka Harriet Tubman, was born a third-generation slave. A curious child with a unique relationship with God, she dreamed of a different life. Could she be brave enough to set out in the dark and follow the stars to freedom? History says, "Yes."

©2018 DW Plato, LLC (P)2019 DW Plato, LLC

Ambitious Re-Telling of a Sacred Story

Emotional and raw, beautifully narrated with only minor production issues. As a story, it absolutely works. However—and I’m by no means qualified to make a definitive ruling—parts of it left me vaguely uneasy, wondering about issues of, oh, I don’t know, appropriation? Representation? While I feel that the stories of great historical heroes can and should belong to all of us, we must be very careful when we blur the lines between fiction and history, that we see it through authentic eyes.

But still, some very good story-telling here, and I will be looking for more from this author.

Tishelle stole the narration

I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Sometimes 4 or 5 per month. Tishelle Peterson voicing Benji was perfect. I’ve read the book before, but, I still cried during the narration. I won’t spoil where for folks who haven’t read it.
Tishelle needs to do more audiobooks. She brings the characters to life.

great book!

I loved this book! what a beautiful way to illustrate the legacy of one of our country's most brave women. thank you for this.

Reviewed by Readers' Favorite

Reviewed By Rabia Tanveer for Readers’ Favorite

It was the year 1789 when Mo’destee Vert was living happily in her country, Senegambia. She was happily in love and dreaming about getting married to the man of her dreams when strangers speaking a foreign language attacked their village. In just one day she changed from Mo’destee Vert to Modesty Greene, a slave. Being the property of Robert Banks was not easy, but she focused on surviving. She braved every single day without realizing that her descendants would one day seek freedom and actually get it!

Trials & Tribulations of Modesty Greene: A Fictional Novel about Harriet Tubman's Historical Legacy by D.W. Plato is a fictional attempt at tracing Harriet Tubman's heritage and how one woman’s bravery led to a woman who would save at least 70 slaves in the future. The narrative is raw, gruesome and emotional at times. The stories of the slaves, the conditions in which they had to live and how they survived despicable masters were sometimes hard to digest. The topic is so sensitive, yet the author has done a wonderful job of not only respecting the characters but dealing very tactfully with the topic.

What brought the story alive and made it even more amazing were the voice actors. They lent their voices to the characters and made them come to life. Tishelle Peterson, Nene Nwoko and Machelle Williams deserve all the kudos they can get for their work. The tone and the cadence of their voices added new weight to the story and reflected the characters. Usually, I don’t prefer to explore a novel by listening to the audiobook, but for this one, I would actually highly recommend my fellow readers to get this audiobook because it will be the best listening time you will ever experience. An exceptional piece of literature!

nothing is as dramatic as truth

So many people today have no idea what life was like during the years of slavery. America is trying to erase it, so children are not learning it. I listened, rapt, as even I, at my age, absorbed parts of Harriet Tubman's story I had never heard before. Well done, both as history and as literature. The audible performance was perfect.

Amistad + Lesbian Sex + a side of Harriet

First there were quite a few weird anachronism, Mo uses lots of phrases like "as the day is long," etc, on the day she gets off the boat. Then it turns out that the slave owners teenage daughter is a confirmed and predatory lesbian who makes advances on Modesty within hours, it's not that I have a problem with sex (lesbian or otherwise) but it feels gratuitous and highly improbable especially for the time. It doesn't serve the story. The dialogue is just so-so, the violence seems cliche, the writing level is YA but the content is R rated. There are meet-cute love interests and then rapes and suicides, it's not very cohesive. I came for a story about Harriet Tubman and ended up with some weird mash-up of women's college lit zines and YA historical fiction. If Toni Morrison and the author of Twilight wrote a book together, this would be it.