Book club selection for Feb 2024. ( )

This is an exceptional book! Yes, it is hard to read some of it because of the raw pain but it's necessary to understand the past. It is not for the faint of heart- it is very explicit. The men and women depicted in this book are true heroes. Thank you Sadeqa for this book. A definite must read. ( )

A compelling and emotional historical fiction. Five Stars.

Pheby Delores Brown, a slave born on the Bell Plantation in Virginia, is favored for her light skin and beauty and is promised freedom by her white father, Master Jacob, at the age of 18. However, her life takes a drastic turn when Jacob's wife, jealous of Pheby, sells her to slave traders. Pheby ends up in the infamous Devil's Half Acre Jail in Richmond, where she catches the eye of the jail owner, Rubin Lapier. Rubin, unable to find a white wife due to his reputation, decides to make Pheby the mistress of the jail.

This story is heartbreakingly beautiful, with rich characters and detailed historical research that portrays the harsh realities of slavery, as well as the often overlooked aspects of African-American history.

Must-Read! ( )

In 1850 in Virginia, Phelby Brown is the child of a slave and the master of the Bell plantation on which they live. Pheby's life is spinning cotton and collecting herbs with her mother until she is assigned to work in the plantation house for the master's wife, Delphia. Delphia has a vendetta against Phelby since she is her husband's child by another woman. She is cruel, vindictive and physically abusive to Phelby. When the master and her mother are killed in a carriage accident, Delphia is sold to a slave trader and travels under horrendous conditions to the jail run by a slave trader, Rubin Lapier.

The slaves are treated like animals and auctioned like cattle. This is a heart wrenching account to read. It becomes an enormous part of Phelby's life when Rubin Lapier chooses her as his own. She learns to be submissive and bears him four daughters, although her heart belongs to Essex, a fellow slave she loved on the Bell plantation. Following her captivity, she had a son by Essex whom she named Monroe.

This is historical fiction that is difficult to read since it is based on facts that are not imaginable. The ending letters between Phelby and her oldest daughter relate what happened in the following years. ( )

The audio version of this novel is a difficult listen. When, in the author's notes at the end, she explains that the story of Phoebe Delores Brown and her jailer are based on a true story, I was stunned and surprised, which betrays my naivete at the treatment of enslaved people at the slave market of Richmond, VA. before the Civil War. As told by the protagonist, the mixed race daughter of a seamstress and her owner is raised with expectations of attending school in Massachusetts, but when everything that can possibly goes wrong does, she is claimed by the brutal jailer (holder of enslaved people before auction) and has four daughters by him, binding her to him and to her somewhat privileged but miserable life as the jail mistress. Most of her decisions, made in her own interest or that of her children (Phoebe also has a son from an enslaved lover who had made his escape), have a terrible impact on the other enslaved people owned by the same cruel jailer. The tension at the denouement is incredibly high and the writing propels the listener along, with some relief at the epilogue. Listening to this story is so very impactful. I'm looking forward to reading Sadeqa Johnson's new book. ( )