Böcker av Sadeqa Johnson

'Luminous and moving!' Kate Quinn'Unforgettable' Kristen HarmelPhiladelphia, 1948: Fifteen-year-old Ruby's dreams are almost within reach. She's going to be the first in her family to attend college, despite having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising her only daughter. But falling madly in love with the one boy she is forbidden from threatens to pull Ruby back into poverty and desperation. When she's imprisoned in a home for unwed mothers - locked in the House of Eve with other 'fallen girls' - everything she's worked so hard for starts slipping through her fingers.Washington, DC, 1948: Eleanor arrives in the city with ambition, hope and a past she's trying her hardest to run from. When she meets William at Howard University, with his inky black eyes and broad shoulders, it's love at first sight. But William hails from one of Washington, DC's elite Black families, who don't let just anyone into their inner circle - especially not a girl from 'the wrong side of the tracks'. Eleanor hopes that a baby will mean they finally accept her, and that her secrets won't see the light of day - but fate has other plans in store...In the dawn of the 1950s, Ruby and Eleanor are complete strangers - until their paths unexpectedly collide. Forced to make the most heartbreaking decisions of their lives, will their choices save them... or be their undoing?

Virginia, 1850: 'Ain't many choices for a slave woman. Just know everything I do is for you. You are meant to see freedom. I's makin' sure.'Pheby Delores Brown was born on the Bell Plantation in Charles City, Virginia. The daughter of the estate's medicine woman, and cherished by the Master's sister, her days as an enslaved girl are almost over... She has been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday.But when she finally turns eighteen, the life she has dreamed of is tragically torn from her. Instead of being free, she is thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil's Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured and sold every day.Her life flashing before her eyes, Pheby is forced to become the mistress of the jailor, the brutal man who owns the prison. Yet even in hell, Pheby never loses sight of her freedom. But how much will she have to sacrifice? And in the face of such darkness, will she survive?Just as transfixing as it is devastating, this page-turner is inspired by the true story Mary Lumpkin, the enslaved woman who forged her own path to freedom. Perfect for fans of The Help and The Forest of Vanishing Stars, this heartbreaking read is about hope in a world of hate and the heart-wrenching price of survival.Readers love Yellow Wife:'Will literally stay with you forever. It was absolutely heartbreaking... I could not put it down. My heart was pounding throughout the entire book.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'Uhhhhhhh... My heart aches!! This was such a powerful and heart-wrenching read... Amazing read!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'Whew... One of the best historical fiction novels that I've ever read... Phenomenal.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'The fastest page-turner ever and a heart-pounding read... With riveting prose, the pages fly and your heart races.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'I ended up crying all the way through... Yes, I cried over these pages.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'My heart aches!! Such a powerful and heart-wrenching read.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'I was completely captivated by the first page and couldn't put this book down.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'Beyond amazing.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars'A harrowing, emotional, incredible historical saga!... I felt I right there with Pheby every step of the way. Equal parts heartbreaking and triumphant and inspiring.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

From the New York Times bestselling author of House of Eve—a 2023 Reese’s Book Club Pick! *A Best Book of the Year by NPR and Christian Science Monitor* Called “wholly engrossing” by New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Grissom, this “fully immersive” (Lisa Wingate, #1 bestselling author of Before We Were Yours) story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world. She’d been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond, Virginia, where the enslaved are broken, tortured, and sold every day. There, Pheby is exposed not just to her Jailer’s cruelty but also to his contradictions. To survive, Pheby will have to outwit him, and she soon faces the ultimate sacrifice.

"So good." -Jennifer Weiner, #1 New York Times bestselling authorHow far would you go to protect your marriage? In Sadeqa Johnson's Second House from the Corner, Felicia Lyons struggles to sprint ahead of the demands of motherhood while her husband spends long days at the office. When the children won't stop screaming her name or arguing over toy trucks and pretzel sticks, she sometimes wonders what it would be like to get in her car and drive away.Then one evening the telephone rings, and in a split second Felicia's life is turned upside down. She hasn't been completely honest about her upbringing, and her deception forces her return to her childhood home, where she must confront the family demons and long-buried secrets she thought she had left behind.

Bea and Awilda have been best friends from the moment Awilda threw her fourteen year-old self across Bea's twin-sized bed as if they had known each other forever. Bubbly, adventurous Awilda taught sheltered, shy Bea how to dress, wear her hair and what to do with boys. She even introduced Bea to her husband, Lonnie, in college, who pledged to take good care of her for the rest of their lives. But philanderer Lonnie breaks that promise over and over again, leaving Bea to wrestle with her self-esteem and long time secret addiction. Recently Lonnie has plopped the family in a New Jersey upper class suburb, which lacks the diversity that Bea craves but has the school district and zip code envy that Lonnie wants. The demands of carrying a third child and fitting into this new environment while pretending that her husband is not cheating on her again, is more than she can handle. And just when she thinks things can't get any worst, the ultimate deception snaps the little thread that was holding her life together and all comes tumbling down.Sadeqa Johnson's And Then There Was Me is the story of love and friendship, heartache and betrayal. It's the journey of a woman stripped down to her lowest point and needing to find the will to press on.