First published 2021
Pheby Brown waits for her eighteenth birthday on a Charles City plantation. Her owner promised her freedom. She dreams of starting a new life with the man she loves. The birthday arrives. Instead of liberation, Pheby finds herself sold to Devil's Half-Acre, Virginia's most brutal slave jail. Slaves arrive broken. They leave more broken, if they leave at all. The jail's owner forces Pheby to become his mistress. She must navigate this violent world while protecting what remains of her heart. Every day brings new horrors. Guards torture prisoners. Families get torn apart on the auction block. Pheby searches for ways to survive without losing herself completely. She faces an impossible choice between love and freedom in a place designed to destroy both.
Genres: historical-fiction, 19th-century, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: forced-proximity, love-story
Setting: Charles City, Virginia, Half-Acre
Period: 19th-century
288 pages · Paperback · Simon & Schuster Canada
Content warnings: slavery, violence