Each month, Beyond The Page: A WGBH Book Club features a notable author, who takes part in a live Q&A with a WGBH personality to discuss the intricacies of that month's novel. With each monthly book selection, we also ask the author for a list of reading recommendations. For its May edition, Beyond The Page selected Sadeqa Johnson's Yellow Wife, a captivating coming-of-age story that brings a fresh telling to a story we think we already know, making it beautifully relatable and human.
Here are three reading suggestions from Sadeqa Johnson:
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.- A singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence.
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom- In this gripping novel, a dark secret threatens to expose the best and worst in everyone tied to the estate at a thriving plantation in Virginia in the decades before the Civil War.
Island Queen by Vanessa Riley- A remarkable, sweeping historical novel based on the incredible true life story of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a free woman of color who rose from slavery to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in the colonial West Indies.
Lazaretto by Diane McKinney Whetstone- Diane McKinney-Whetstone's stunning historical novel, Lazaretto, begins in the chaotic back streets of post-Civil War Philadelphia as a young black woman, Meda, gives birth to a child fathered by her wealthy white employer. He arranges to take the baby, so it falls to Sylvia, the midwife’s teenage apprentice, to tell Meda that her child is dead—a lie that will define the course of both women’s lives.
The Known World by Edward P. Jones- The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order, and chaos ensues.
What she's reading now:
How the One Arm Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones
Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
Next up on her "To Be Read" list:
Outlawed by Anna North
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Looking for more? Then join the club. Don't miss out on the next selection and virtual session by joining the Beyond The Page Facebook Group and signing up for the e-mail newsletter.
