Book Review: “The Yellow Wife” by Sadeqa Johnson

It was time for me to be my own savior.

Pheby Delores Brown is not a slave. Though she was born on the Bell Plantation to Ruth, an enslaved medicine woman, she has been told since birth that she is destined for greater things and has been promised her freedom at age eighteen. She has been taught to read and given many freedoms, raised by her mother and in love with Essex Henry, who works in the stables. However, when the master leaves for a business trip with her mother and Pheby is level with the jealous mistress, her world starts to shift, and before she knows it, everything spins out of control.

Next thing she knows, Pheby is sent to the jail for slaves, known as the Devil’s Half Acre–her life, as peaceful as a slave’s can be, has altered and everyone she loves has been separated from her. When Pheby is put on the block to be sold, she is purchased by the jail’s owner and forced to become the jailer’s mistress. She must risk everything to protect herself and those she loves from the man she must pretend to care for as she becomes his yellow wife.

This book is a hard read–there’s no other way to describe it. Pheby is an incredible main character. She’s spunky, strong, spirited, and resilient; she goes through things no human being should have to endure and faces choices that are inhumane. The book doesn’t ask what is right or wrong but only shares what she chooses to do for herself and those she loves, which I really liked. Survival doesn’t have time to consider moral quandaries. I also loved the other characters of the book–they were all incredibly well-rounded and complex. Essex, Pheby’s mother Ruth, July, Monroe, Abbie, and so many other characters–interesting, complex, not black and white. I loved reading about them.

This novel is not for the faint of heart. Many of the scenes are cruel and grotesque–the book is about the horrors of slavery, and some of it is really triggering. Johnson doesn’t shy away from rape, torture, and violence. But all of this is necessary to demonstrate just how awful their lives were–not only the violence and debasement they endured, but the choices they had to face, like some of the things Pheby had to choose between. It’s not always a beautiful story, but it’s a necessary one and I absolutely treasured reading it. I strongly recommend that you read it, just be prepared for some of the more extreme elements.

They came the same way I had come. The same way it would always be, until enough hearts had the courage to change. As long as there was breath, there was hope.

4.5/5