Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim

Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

Moments after Lisbeth is born, she's taken from her mother and handed over to an enslaved wet nurse, Mattie, a young mother separated from her own infant son in order to care for her tiny charge. Thus begins an intense relationship that will shape both of their lives for decades to come. Though Lisbeth leads a life of privilege, she finds nothing but loneliness in the company of her overwhelmed mother and her distant, slave-owning father. As she grows older, Mattie becomes more like family to Lisbeth than her own kin and the girl's visits to the slaves' quarters - and their lively and loving community - bring them closer together than ever. But can two women in such disparate circumstances form a bond like theirs without consequence? This deeply moving tale of unlikely love traces the journey of these very different women as each searches for freedom and dignity.

My Review:

Alright, so I started this book and immediately there was some detailed (and in my opinion, graphic) descriptions of birthing and breastfeeding. Being a woman with no children or desire for children, I was immediately uncomfortable. Yes I know it is a beautiful thing, and a miracle of God, I just have a hard time with it (my personal demon, no judgement on others from me). Anyways, I was starting to get worried that Mattie would be a wet-nurse the entire time. I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle an entire book of this. However, it wasn't long before Lisbeth, Mattie's charge, grew out of that stage. Soon, years seemed to progress quite rapidly, but at a comfortable pace.

I felt for Mattie and her situation, and I was amazed at how well she handled it, I could honestly say I'm not sure I'd have handled things that well. As Lisbeth grew up, I really enjoyed her love for Mattie, although her naivety started to wear thin.

Without wanting to give too much away, this was a great story, with great character development. I'm glad, no, I'm grateful, to have read this. I think Laila Ibrahim did a wonderful job on this beautiful story. If you haven't read this yet, get to it. I highly doubt you'll be disappointed.

Favorite Quotes:

“Focus on bearing, and beauty will follow. Your looks will not remain with you for life. But your bearing will go with you to the grave.”

“As far as I concerned, God loves ever’body so God forgives ever’body so ever’body gonna get to heaven.”

Read from December 15 to 21, 2015

Top 5 Genres*: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, American/Southern, Romance
*According to Goodreads
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★★★★★ - I absolutely loved it
★★★★ - Good book and would recommend
★★★ - Decent book, but wasn't spectacular
★★ - Not good, but was able to finish it
★ - Did not finish (DNF) and I don't usually rate a book I haven't finished (just to be fair to the author)

View all my reviews