Emotional, riveting, and formidable.  

 

This is a powerfully rendered look at the atrocities of slavery and the indelible will of those forced to live through it.  

 

“Member now, even in the big house you’s still Pheby Delores Brown, born on Christmas Day.  You the grand-daudder of Vinnie Brown, who was the gran-daudder of a Mandara queen.  You a slave in name, but never in your mind, chile.”

 

Pheby Delores Brown was promised freedom on her 18th birthday.  It was a declaration her mother claimed for her with great hope.  But in a cruel twist of fate, Pheby instead found herself the mistress of the “Devil’s Half Acre,” one of the most brutal slave trading posts in Virginia.  

 

Johnson’s adept writing style allows the perfect execution of this kind of harrowing tale.  Inspired by the true events of Mary Lumpkin and the Lumpkin’s Jail, Johnson doesn’t sugar coat the realities of the time.  With the relationship between owned and owner never romanticized, Johnson paints a vivid picture of the psychological (on top of the physical) trauma experienced by the owned.  

 

With a depth of research and vibrant storytelling, Johnson lays bare the heinousness of slavery while separating out the brave inner spirit of those tortured, never allowing the person to get lost in the atrocities.   That look at the slave soul is what often gets lost in history itself.  It’s also what captivated me most in this read.

 

Pheby’s story took hold of my heart.  As a mother willing to sacrifice everything for her offspring.  As a woman bearing witness to other’s pain.  As a warrior never willing to give up and fighting for better.  Pheby represents beauty in stark contrast to the evil she endured.    

 

Her story is one of tenacity and survival.  It rocked me to my core and has stayed with me since closing the last pages of this book. 

 

This book well honors the tortured souls of this heinous piece of history and is a must read.

 

I read this one with my buddies @biblioreviews and @darciahelle.  This is a book that begs to be discussed, and I found that our chats heightened my book experience.