The Yellow Wife Audiobook By Sadeqa Johnson cover art

The Yellow Wife

A Novel

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The Yellow Wife

By: Sadeqa Johnson
Narrated by: Robin Miles
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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. African American Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Heartfelt Thought-Provoking African American Historical Fiction

Critic reviews

NPR Best Book of 2021

Christian Science Monitor Best Book of 2021
Compelling Narrative • Historical Authenticity • Vivid Storytelling • Emotional Depth • Captivating Performance
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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 will get trapped in the story.

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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.

You Must Listen and So Must Your Children

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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.

Incredible

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The possibility of love and freedom with so few choices kept me reading. The abuse and lack of humanity shown in certain parts of the story rang painful true and consistent with nonfiction accounts of slavery that I’ve read. I greatly appreciate the author’s efforts to honor those known and unknown and highly recommended the Yellow Wife for all.

Excellent reimagined history and love story

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

Much better than I hoped!

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

My top 20 list

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I loved this book so much! I found it really hard to listen too in parts though.

Spellbound

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A friend recommended this book. It took some time for me to finish it because pieces are graphic but at same time true. This book is set in the area where I live and this history is very real.

Ms Johnson did a phenomenal job weaving the story with history. Robin Miles is one of my favorite narrators.

Remarkable telling of a very painful period in History

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This book was really good and realistic for the era. I will surely listen again to see if I missed anything.

Great Listen!

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There are a lot of novels that are very similar to this one.There will never be too many novels on the topics and the stories of the people who endured this crime and the monsters by whom it was perpetrated. This book deals with mixed race "families" in the 1850s. These families were generally created by white slave owners who took the women that excited them. There was a fetish for light-skinned, mixed race women who were known as "yellow". While many atrocities are described in detail, the daily life of one of these families is fascinating. The twisted and peverted slave owners perpetrated atrocities in the realm of emotional/psychological torture. Other excellent novels on the subject of slavery are: The Book of Night Women and The Invention of Wings.

A harrowing novel about slavery.

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