Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim

Yellow Crocus, Laila Ibrahim Flaming Chalice Press, 2011 240 pages


Alright, I'll admit that I didn't really like it from the beginning. Honestly I thought that I would walk away from the book and start reading Flame of Sevenwaters as soon as it finally arrived, but I didn't! I stuck it out and read it from start to finish today with a few hours dedicated to cleaning and voting in the middle somewhere. Anyway, it's really time to talk about the book and not the random things I did today.

Lisbeth Wainwright is a white woman born on a plantation in Virginia in 1837. At this time it's not proper for a well off woman to nurse her own child, so she is given to a wet nurse and taken out to show off once a week. Lisbeth is raised and loved by a woman named Mattie who was taken from her own 3 month old son to be the wet nurse for Lisbeth. The book is about how Lisbeth grows up with a strong connection to her wet nurse who is a slave of her family. As she grows she learns more about the way the slaves are treated and the different lives that they lead from her. After a time the two women are separated and Lisbeth is left to find out who she is and her own personal opinions on slavery or abolition.

As Lisbeth matures into adulthood she is throw more into the life of a plantation owner and is made more aware of the circumstances that the slaves are forced to endure because of their captivity. She learns compassion for every person, and that no matter what people shouldn't be forced into certain kinds of acts. She is a well developed character who becomes a woman and holds her own. It's not easy to defy your family at 19, and make yourself into your own woman. She marries a great man and becomes the person you hoped she would be the whole time.

It didn't take me long to get through the story, but it was pretty good. I feel like I'm prejudiced against shorter books because I feel like there isn't time to develop the characters. In this instance I appreciate that the author only focused on two main characters and during the more needed times one of the characters sort of disappeared. I appreciate being able to focus on one story line and not have to jump around between too many plot lines. I've noticed lately that quite a few of the books I've been reading have been doing just that: jumping between too many characters. That whole process just leaves things unformed and missing pieces. I give this book 4 stars on Goodreads. Have a Goodreads account? Be my friend!