Yellow Wife

 Alright, everyone! Happy Monday! I'm trying to be more consistent, and get my blogs up every Monday. I hear some kind of routine is good in the blogging world. My Monday has been off to a bit of a rough start. But! After a cup of coffee, some baking (bagels are cooling as we speak), and cleaning up (and after getting another cup of coffee, of course!), I am ready to sit down and share my thoughts. I've got a couple of books coming at you today from my reads last week. First up is Yellow Wife; a book that had been discussed so many times in book groups I am a part of that I figured it was about time I picked it up.

You all (surely) know how I feel about historical fiction by now. Usually, it's WWII related. Every once in a while, I pick up a book about slavery, and my mind is always just blown away. In some respects, I find it even more difficult to read than WWII fiction. (I have no idea why. Perhaps because there is always, always some kind of sexual abuse, and absolutely always physical and emotional abuse.) Yellow Wife is a must read if you are someone who enjoys this particular genre within historical fiction. (I would put it right up there with The Book of Negroes, The Invention of Wings, and The Help - which were ALL excellent reads regarding the slave trade/era.)

This particular novel revolves around the life of Pheby Dolores Brown, who lives on a plantation in Charles City. She is sheltered by much of the abuse directed to the slaves due to her mother's relationship with the owner of the plantation. It is also due to this relationship that Pheby is despised by the missus on the plantation. The 'yellow' child of the estate's medicine woman and her master; Pheby has been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday.

However, (as you may have suspected) Pheby is not given her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. Instead, she is sold to a slave traitor; and is held for sale at the horrendous jail known as The Devil's Half Acre. (All after a heart wrenching scene in which her beloved flees for his own freedom.) When she refuses to demean herself further, she catches the attention of the owner of the jail, and her life is changed once again.

There is so much in this novel to explore. The strength of Pheby's character throughout as she raises her children, lives alongside (and becomes a party to) the horrifying aspects of the slave trade. Knowing the girls she dresses will be sold as 'fancy girls', she takes down their stories; the one small thing she feels she can do for these young women. There are so many ups and downs throughout this story; loves rises above all in the end (in my humble opinion), though there are even heart breaks within a relatively happy ending. This is a book that will stay with me.