"Yellow Crocus" Book Review

At our other house, we had some crocus that would bloom very early in the Spring. I loved those little flowers, they just came up to remind me to hang in there, that sunshine and warm temps were on the way. Maybe that's why I was drawn to the cover of this book. It was one of the free books for the month for Amazon Prime members, and right after I chose it for this month's selection, it was offered free to anyone with a Kindle or Kindle app.

This just goes to show you, one should download those freebies when they become available, because the next thing you know, they are a hit and cost twelve bucks. I would not have been disappointed if I had paid for this one, though.

If you enjoyed "The Help," you will likely enjoy this story. There were some similarities, although it's set in a different time period.

I don't know why I'm fascinated with stories where slavery is the focus, but I have been ever since I saw ROOTS as a young girl living in Del Rio, TN, where no black people had ever lived, and no one was rich enough to have ever owned slaves.  I would not have been a good plantation owner's daughter in the Old South. In "Yellow Crocus," I found myself rooting for Mattie, the slave who was appointed nursemaid to the daughter of the plantation owner, who basically raised her and loved her as her own daughter, but longed to be with her own children that she had to leave behind with the other slaves in the fields. I also enjoyed the underlying story of an "arranged marriage," and found myself hoping the daughter would marry for love and not status/money.

Someone's review said there was not enough "realism" in the story and that the true picture of slavery was not painted. I felt there were plenty of reminders of the dark side of this horrible time in history; slavery (being owned by another human) in itself, no matter how bad the punishments were, was punishment enough.

I read this book in less than 24 hours. Go get it, you won't be disappointed.