The bestselling author of Yellow Crocus returns with a haunting and tender story of three women returning to the plantation they once called home.Oberlin, Ohio, 1868. Lisbeth Johnson was born into privilege in the antebellum South. Jordan Freedman was born a slave to Mattie, Lisbeth’s beloved nurse. The women have an unlikely bond deeper than friendship. Three years after the Civil War, Lisbeth … the Civil War, Lisbeth and Mattie are tending their homes and families while Jordan, an aspiring suffragette, teaches at an integrated school.
When Lisbeth discovers that her father is dying, she’s summoned back to the Virginia plantation where she grew up. There she must face the Confederate family she betrayed by marrying an abolitionist. Jordan and Mattie return to Fair Oaks, too, to save the family they left behind, who still toil in oppression. For Lisbeth, it’s a time for reconciliation. For Jordan and Mattie, it’s time for liberation.
As the Johnsons and Freedmans confront the injustice that binds them, as well as the bitterness and violence that seethes at its heart, the women must find the courage to free their families—and themselves—from the past.
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Intense continuation of the Freedman and Johnson families. Jordan’s all grown up living with her parents and brother. Lisbeth is married and raising her children. They’re all doing well and the slaves are now free living a “good,” life. Or are they?
This is a compelling look at what comes after the Civil War. Looking forward to the next installment.
Another great book by Laila Ibrahim!! This sequel to Yellow Crocus finds three women returning to the plantation they once called home. It is 3 years after the civil war, and the hostilities of race still exist. This is a book about courage, faith, reconciliation, liberation, and keeping family together at all cost. Read Yellow Crocus first, then read Mustard Seed. Highly recommend them both!
This is the second book in a three-novel series about the lives of White and Black Americans in the 19th century, following the American Civil War. For me, It is the final book of the series, since I regrettably did not read the series in order. But I strongly recommend the entire series and I encourage you to read them in sequence, so you can follow the relationships develop and change among the central characters. I awarded four stars to the entire series.
In MUSTARD SEED, once again two strong and closely connected women and their families take center stage. Mattie, a former slave, practices midwifery in Oberlin, Ohio — living with her husband, son, and daughter. Nearby, is Lisbeth Johnson, the daughter of Mattie’s former owner for whom Mattie served as wet nurse.. Lisbeth, who has rejected the slave system of the Old South, also lives with her husband, son, and daughter.
In this novel, circumstances force both women to return to their homes in Virginia, for different reasons; Lisbeth to make peace with her dying father, Mattie to collect a close friend’s daughter and move her north. Once each arrives, however, life during Reconstruction interferes in their carefully planned visits. And once again Mattie and Lisbeth find themselves relying on one another to navigate their respective crises.
Through the stories of these women, we as readers get to emotionally experience how little the Civil War changed the lives off Black Americans. The injustices may have been given new names, but the same vulnerability existed. Parents and children separated, men randomly grabbed off the streets and forced to work the fields of wealthy Whites, and pervasive and intense brutality and. deprivation.
In the climate of Black Lives Matter and its potential to foster a deeper understanding of slavery in America, Laila Ibrahim’s series provides a realistic, deeply human, and sobering exploration of life in America from the mid 1800s into the early 1900s. It is guaranteed to give you a better understanding of the shameful economic institution of slavery and its legacy of racism we all still struggle with today.
I fell in love with the characters in the first book in the series (Yellow Crocus) and was pleased to continue with their story In Mustard Seed. The author brings warmth to a difficult story and a hard time in American history? She humanizes each character including those less than favorable in a beautiful way. Her plot lines are smooth, interesting and they pull you into the characters world. You feel their shock, pain, fear, and redemption.
The author’s research and love for history, hope, and entertaining the readers is easy to see. This was a joy to-read and experience.
This is an excellent story I am glad that I was able to get a copy of this book after reading the first book. The writing flowed so well, that I felt transformed into this book. I enjoyed the theme of family in this book, family is more than just blood.
Of you have faith as big as a mustard seed you can move mountains is a fitting theme for combating a shameful period in the South with hope and love of others. Continuation of Mattie and Elizabeth’s stories will truly touch your heart. Share the outrage at slavery masquerading under another name!
I very much enjoyed this book.Easy to read and you can’t wait to get to the last page.
What a treat to return to the folks from Yellow Crocus, again I experienced so many emotions listening to this book! Not always pleasant, sometimes I was just so angry! The narration was absolutely excellent as was the story. I could hardly put it down. Definitely a must read!!! I’ll continue to look for additional books from the author and narrator. Amazing!
Although this novel can stand alone, Mustard Seed is a sequel to the very engaging book, Yellow Crocus. Spanning the years of antebellum South through the years following the Civil war and the abolition of slavery, both books are thought-provoking and exemplars of how cruel and inhuman we as a species can be. In particular, Mustard Seed is a reminder that not much as changed in how we treat people of differing races, countries, genders, or religions; inequalities continually exist below the societal surface of everything we do.
Mustard Seed is written from the viewpoints of two main characters: Lisbeth, born into a wealthy white Antebellum family who as an adult has shunned her parents’ Southern beliefs and married an abolitionist, settling in the free state of Ohio. Mattie, Lisbeth’s onetime wet nurse and nanny, now a free woman with her own family, also living in Ohio. Not particularly close at the start of the novel, their lives become intertwined as both families are faced with the harsh reality that the North may have won the war, but abolition of slavery was far from over.
A well crafted story that tugs at your heart strings and makes you angry that such human atrocities exist. Though a writing of historical fiction, Mustard Seed reminds us that the human condition is still far from peaceful co-existence. As a retired high school teacher, I think both books should be part of the secondary curricula but certainly are not meant only for YA readers.
Really good book. The characters were interesting and very good historical background. Sad but true to that period of time.
It was great to once again read about the continuing lives of the people in her previous book Yellow Crocus, which took place during the civil war and slavery in the south.
This book continues after the civil war and follows the friendship between Maddie, a former slave and Lisbeth who’s family owned her.
Lisbeth, who married a man that her parents did not approve of, left with him to find a better life in Ohio. Mattie and her baby daughter Jordan ran away from the plantation and made it to Ohio when Jordan was a baby. Now with her grown children, Jordan and Samuel, Maddie heads back to see if they can convince her cousin Sarah to come back to Ohio with them.
Now years later Lisbeth’s father is dying and she and her children take a trip to see him before he dies. Not much seems to have changed in the south, people still working in the fields harvesting tobacco, without pay, even when they were supposedly free.
The story alternates between what is going on with Mattie and her family and then to what is going on with Lisbeth and hers. Coming together for some major events that happen.
It was interesting to hear about how the end of the war effected these different people. I have a feeling this story may continue.
The author is a wonderful story teller and writer, and I have so enjoyed these two book.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book
I liked Yellow Crocus & gave it 4 stars so when I saw Mustard Seed offered on Bookbub.com I got it, too. I think it is even better. It was an easy read & a real page turner I could hardly put down. While this could be a stand-alone book it is helpful to have read Yellow Crocus 1st so you know the characters & the bond between them all. I am sad to have finished it & hope there will be another one to know what the characters are up to next.
This book was a great sequel to Yellow Crocus. The bond between the characters was so wonderful! Really enjoyed the culmination of these characters journey. Really recommend to others!
As with Ibrihim’first book, YELLOW CROCUSES, this sequel was an exceptional read! Read both in four days! That good!