Pheby Brown was born a slave on a Virginia plantation, daughter of a strong woman who was determined to find a way for Pheby to go North and be educated someday. When Pheby's world shatters though, she finds herself sold into a Richmond household and at the mercy of The Jailer. While her world shrinks around her, her dreams of freedom never disappear and Pheby finds her own kind of strength as she claws out a life for herself in a world where she is only as safe as the Jailer allows her to be.
This is a gut-wrenching story of survival and the strength of women. It is about the family you choose and the bonds that tie you to the people you love. It is about the things we find we are willing to suffer when the safety of those we love is in question. This story dug into the twisted relationships between white men and their slave women, how there could be love and lust and absolute hatred at the same time. It's a hard idea to let your brain try to wrap itself around - but this really well written story forces you to, forces you to imagine the pain of these women whose bodies were not their own and the way that their pain spurred them into incredible action and compassion for others. I felt Pheby's fear, her exhaustion, her aching desire for things out of her reach. While there are many painful scenes, I still highly recommend this story, maybe it's only fault is that I wanted a little more at the end, but I finished this story with so much respect for the women like Pheby and everyone one else who suffered under the horror of slavery.
content: non-graphic but sexual scenes (both consensual and not), violence
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