by Kaylie Seed
Content warning: abuse, sexual abuse, loss of a child, graphic scenes
Sadeqa Johnson’s Yellow Wife is a challenging yet beautifully written piece of historical fiction. Inspired by true events of the 1850s, Yellow Wife follows Pheby Delores Brown, who was born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, and who ends up in an unlikely situation granting her a sliver of freedom. Pheby was born to her Black mother and a white man, and in turn is given the title “yellow,” which ends up giving her a slight advantage in this brutal way of life. Pheby had the opportunity to read, write, and learn piano during a time when it was illegal for any Black person to be educated, making Pheby the witty, smart young woman she is throughout Yellow Wife. Pheby is an extremely likeable character that the reader will be rooting for even after the story is finished.
Johnson is not afraid to show the reader the brutality that Black slaves endured and while it can be incredibly difficult to read, it is very important to be aware of this history and to remind readers that white privilege is by no means new. Johnson includes topics such as power, racism, misogyny, the mother-daughter relationship, and the power of love. Yellow Wife is incredibly powerful and is intended not only to entertain but also to make the reader think.
Johnson has done her research for Yellow Wife, and I highly encourage the reader to take the time to read the Author’s Note at the of the novel. Here Johnson describes where the inspiration for her characters and plot came from. In addition to the research that Johnson has put into Yellow Wife, her story is solid with no redundancy or plot holes. The prose in Yellow Wife flows smoothly and Johnson even paid attention to the various accents that would have been heard in the 1850s, which are shown through dialogue. Yellow Wife is an exquisite novel that will make the reader fall in love and break their heart at the same time.
Thank you, Simon & Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!