A must-read novel about 19th century slavery in America. A young girl’s life is shattered when she is stolen from her African village in a midnight raid. Ruthlessly torn from her family to be beaten, chained, degraded, and enslaved in a heartless world she can barely comprehend. The slave ledger at Virginia’s Belle Grove Plantation only reveals that Judah was purchased to be the cook, gave birth … gave birth to 12 children, and died in April 1836. But, like the other 276 faceless names entered in that ledger, Judah lived. Brian C. Johnson’s important work of historical fiction goes beyond what is recorded to portray the depth, humanity, and vulnerability of a beautiful soul all but erased by history. For Judah, as Johnson notes, “did the ultimate—she survived. Not as a weakling, but resilient and determined.”
more
An important piece of historical fiction that humanizes the experience of an enslaved girl; stolen from her home and brought to the Belle Grove plantation. A must read!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It has been published in August 2019.
“Send Judah First: The Erased Life of an Enslaved Soul” by Brian C. Johnson is the heart-wrenching fictionalised biography of a 12-year-old African girl who is kidnapped from her village and sold as a slave in America.
The novel recounts Judah’s plight – the violence she suffered and the tortures she had to endure – in a lucid, almost matter-of-fact way.
The protagonist is portrayed as a strong, resilient character who goes through a whole life of abuse without giving in to despair or letting herself be defined by her tormentors’ cruelty.
Usually, I’m not a fan of historical fiction, but I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook, not only because of the powerful writing style and the awesome characterisation, but also because Elizabeth Isitor, the narrator, has the most incredible, soothing voice, both when reading and when singing. She gave a truly beautiful performance in this audiobook and I even enjoyed listening to the parts in Swahili, which I barely understood, because her voice was just so musical.
Last but not least, you can tell while you’re reading this novel (or listening to the audiobook) that a huge amount of research went into writing this story, but the plot never suffers because of this: Brian C. Johnson’s writing style never becomes pedantic or lecture-like. The novel’s prose is always captivating and the plot is fast-paced throughout.
I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 only because the ending was a bit anticlimactic and felt slightly rushed.
Very hard to read due to the horribleness life she lived.
I’m not sure there’s a category apt to describe this book. It’s not original because many others have written of men and women torn from their homeland and brought to the US to be sold as slaves. I can’t say it’s realistic because it’s not part of my experience, though it mirrors other similar books I’ve read. The characters aren’t particularly well developed, yet they fit the standard for that period. What I did find noteworthy in this book is the quiet strength of Judah, her acceptance of her situation at first, which in time leads to doubt and eventually to inner rebellion. She does what she has to do to survive without betraying her true self, and it’s really inspiring to read.
The narrator Elizabeth Isitor did a great job in telling the story
I can’t image what it is like to be 12 years old, kidnapped, separated from family, ending up in a complete new environment, treated worse than an animal, chained and hungry while not understanding a word of the language spoken.
One of the sentences that got to me was when she thinks of her mother and hopes that she had died instead of having the life that Judah has full of shame and constant angst of the slave owners. Having a life that is never your own and at the mercy of the white man.
For the reviewers that did not like the ending. The book is fiction but the base is from documents (accounting ledgers and letters) from Bell Grove Plantation. The author made Judah come to life for us by describing what it is like to be the cook as a slave during that time period at the plantation. Like many others I would like to have known what happen to the children so decided to take a look at the bellegrove.org webpage. It looks like there is continuing research going on and Maria seems to be the only one that they seem to have info on as having four children. Hope the Historical Plantation will keep on with the research so that these people will not be forgotten.