Yellow Crocus

Dec 02, 2012 Dem rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, recommended

Yellow Crocus a novel by Laila Ibrahim.

I am so glad I read this Novel as the saying goes “ Good goods come in small parcels”.

Yellow Crocus -is a flower that blooms in the most adverse conditions. What a great name for this Novel, makes you appreciate the thought the author put into this book.

This is a short novel and as I have been having a bad streak with books lately this was exactly the sort of book I had been searching for. I found the novel Yellow Crocus a very enjoyable book, no tricks o...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Kiessa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I want to wrap my arms and legs around this book and hang onto it forever. With a depth and subtlety I'm sure I didn't even fully grasp during this first read, Yellow Crocus captured my attention and my emotions on every single page. I am hungry to pick it up and start all over again. Beautiful, warm, hopeful, and inspiring, this story unfolded so seamlessly I felt like I was living it. To finish the last page left me renewed and deeply satisfied. This is the kind of book that makes me glad to b...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Trudie Pistilli rated it 5 of 5 stars

Just started reading this book, really enjoying it. and it was free for my kindle (result)

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May 05, 2013 Tima rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just moments after being born, baby Lisbeth is dumped into Mattie's arms to be cared for. Mattie, a slave and a wet nurse, is forced to leave her own son at home to care for the plantation owner's daughter. Lisbeth forms a deep bond with her Mattie. So when Mattie is sent back to work in the fields a very conflicted Lisbeth must learn that Mattie isn't a really a human being and she must shun all personal contact with the slaves.

I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I'm a bit of a wimp...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Michelle Jayne rated it 3 of 5 stars

My interest for this novel was sparked by a post on Facebook page Quickie Book Reviews, I wasn’t disappointed.

The story of slave Mattie who lives on the Wainwright estate in Virginia 1937. She is torn from her newborn son and forced to become wet-nurse to the plantation owners new-born daughter Lisbeth. Lisbeth thrives and becomes close to her ‘second mother’, learns about the life of her families slaves, helps Mattie’s son to read and discovers the importance of the yellow crocus to Mattie.

Both...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Damaskcat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mattie is a slave on a plantation in the early nineteenth century. When the story opens she has recently given birth to Samuel. She is told she is going to move into the big house and be a wet nurse for the baby about to be born to the lady of the house. This means leaving her own family. Miss Elizabeth and Mattie soon become inseparable and Mattie settles down into her new role. The story follows Mattie and Elizabeth over several years and shows clearly how slaves were treated as chattels and s...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Ceillie Simkiss rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim was based in pre-Civil War Virginia and follows the lives of two women – a black slave named Mattie Wainwright and the eldest daughter of a plantation owner named Elizabeth. It was recommended to people that enjoyed The Help, and I think that’s fairly accurated
Moments after her birth to the mistress of a sprawling Virginia plantation, Lisbeth Wainwright is entrusted to Mattie, an enslaved wet nurse. From then on, Mattie serves as Lisbeth's stand-in mother, nursing...more Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim was based in pre-Civil War Virginia and follows the lives of two women – a black slave named Mattie Wainwright and the eldest daughter of a plantation owner named Elizabeth. It was recommended to people that enjoyed The Help, and I think that’s fairly accurated
Moments after her birth to the mistress of a sprawling Virginia plantation, Lisbeth Wainwright is entrusted to Mattie, an enslaved wet nurse. From then on, Mattie serves as Lisbeth's stand-in mother, nursing her, singing her to sleep, and soothing her in the night. And yet mothering Lisbeth tears Mattie away from her own baby, Samuel, who lives in the slave quarters. Growing up under Mattie's tender care, Lisbeth adopts her traditions of prayer, singing, eating black-eyed peas, and hunting for yellow crocuses in the spring. As the years pass, Lisbeth is drawn back into the white world, earning a growing awareness of the inequality of her and Mattie's stations. She struggles to reconcile her love for Mattie with her parents' expectations for her future, intent on keeping the best of both worlds-until a terrible betrayal forces her to choose once and for all. Yellow Crocus is a compelling novel of love, loss, and redemption set during one of the most sinister chapters of American history.
This book was enjoyable, but I had a hard time getting into it. The language felt entirely too formal, and many of the characters were very shallow, like the author had not given them enough thought. I loved Mattie and Elizabeth, and Matthew was pretty cool, when you got to him, but the rest of the characters, I kind of had a hard time connecting to. My issue was with the language that the white characters used. There were no contractions used whatsoever, and the only concession Elizabeth made to her being brought up by Mattie was having people call her Lisbeth, like Maddie did.
That being said, I did enjoy the book. It was a simple book, although not particularly thought provoking, and I liked that it had both the perspectives of a plantation owner’s daughter and her slave/surrogate mother.
The attitudes of her friends and family towards the slaves were unfortunately accurate for the time period, but they still kind of hurt my soul a lot while I was reading it, especially when I got to Edward. Edward Cunningham, you are a douche. I don’t care when you lived. You are despicable and deserve to be labeled as such.
I was kind of surprised at the end, when Mattie didn’t really want to be a part of Lisbeth’s new life. Mattie loved Lisbeth, and Lisbeth loved Mattie. I know there was a difference in station, but given that Mattie had been her wet nurse and friend, I didn’t think that would have been an issue. I would have wanted to know how the baby girl I’d half raised was a good person, and that she was happy.
If you really like the book, I wish you joy of it. I’m glad you’re enjoying fairly good writing about a hard subject. I’d also recommend a really old book called Deep Summer by Gwen Bristow. It’s actually a trilogy, but this is the first book. I enjoyed that book a lot more, and it's in the same topic range.
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Dec 10, 2012 Shay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Yellow Crocus follows Mattie, a slave, and Lisbeth Wainwright, a young plantation belle. Mattie is forced to abandon her own son to serve as a wet nurse to Lisbeth, and we watch Lisbeth grow up between worlds--her parent's view of slavery and her own experience in the quarters.

I really liked this book--it was thought provoking (especially on the white person "justification" of slavery that Lisbeth's parents feed her, wow and yikes). I also connected to it a lot as a mom of an infant. It didn't s...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Kari rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2012

“This is our story. You will wonder if it is true; I can assure you it is, though my parents wish it were otherwise. This is as true a story as has ever been told: the story of my love for Mattie, and, I suppose, her love for me in return.”

These words set the tone for a poignant tale that chronicles a young slave taken from her own child to be the wet-nurse to her master’s daughter. Mattie feels conflicted over her desire to be with her son versus her growing love for her young charge. As she...more

“This is our story. You will wonder if it is true; I can assure you it is, though my parents wish it were otherwise. This is as true a story as has ever been told: the story of my love for Mattie, and, I suppose, her love for me in return.”

These words set the tone for a poignant tale that chronicles a young slave taken from her own child to be the wet-nurse to her master’s daughter. Mattie feels conflicted over her desire to be with her son versus her growing love for her young charge. As she continues to care for her young charge the bond between them becomes so strong that the little girl cannot bear to be parted from her Mattie. No such relationship is ever formed between mother and daughter. Mattie becomes Lisbeth’s world. As they travel through Lisbeth’s childhood this attachment only grows stronger.

Love, loss, and sorrow are always prominent themes when reading about slavery in the Pre-Civil War South. Many, many stories over the years have explored and chronicled the hardships that were faced during this time period, and the effects it had on the people who experienced it. The great thing about Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim is that it is not just a rehashing of the Southern-slavery stories that have been told before. The desire to escape, the harrowing journey to freedom, even the master-slave relationship are all given pretty low highlights in this novel. Instead, this novel chronicles the bond between a mother (caretaker) and child despite their differences in social stature and skin color, in a time where that was a huge obstacle to overcome.

As Lisbeth grows she begins to see the differences in the quality of life she has as compared to that of Mattie and Mattie’s family. The different atrocities carried out against Southern slaves and justified by the ruling class seem unfair to young Lisbeth. Eventually she begins to learn things that just don’t sit right with her, and she is faced with the choice of following the society she was born into and having to live with the knowledge of what happens around her every day, or find a way to change her destiny.

This story is beautifully written, and the story sucks you in. I sat down to start reading this book before bed and ended up reading through the night because I just couldn’t put it down. Ibrahim’s story had me hooked, I found myself on the edge of my seat rooting for the characters as I went along. The idea of a master-slave relationship that WASN’T based on the love between a man and a woman but rather an adopted mother and child was compelling. In the end both of them must deal with the consequences that slavery brought to society at that time, no matter what station they held in life it still touched them both deeply.

My only complaint with this book was the level of inattention that Lisbeth’s parents displayed. I have a hard time believing that such staunch Southern aristocracy would be so lenient with their “Southern Belle” as to let her spend that much time hanging around with field hands and drive her own buggy around to wherever she felt. When a good marriage and social opinion could make or break a family, they would not be leaving fate in the hands of a 19 year old daughter who has clearly developed sympathies for the help. Especially given the looming beginning of the Civil War and all the tension that abolitionist-sympathizers created. Everything about the relationship between Lisbeth and her parents was shallow and seemed unlikely to me. I had a hard time suspending belief about it.

Overall this story is a fantastic read and brings much to a saturated genre. It is worth picking up and giving a chance to. I look forward to seeing more from Laila Ibrahim in the future.

This review also appears at www.caffeinatedbooker.com (less)

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Aug 20, 2012 Victoria (daisyduck) rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a beautiful story about the lives of a young girl, Elizabeth and her wet nurse, Mattie, living in Virginia in the time of slavery. It would be very enjoyable to those who liked The Help, but it is not at all the same kind of book.
It details their relationship and the differences in their lives in the short times of the week when they are not together. The reality of slavery is written in quite a matter of fact way, and Elizabeth's slow realisation of what the slaves' lives are truly like...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Lillie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, historical-fiction

I received a review copy of this book from Net Galley. I chose this title to read because I had just finished Uncle Tom's Cabin and wanted to read more about the pre-Civil War era. This novel was emotionally powerful, making the reader feel the emotions of Mattie, the slave who had to leave her own infant son in the care of other slaves to be a wet nurse for the newborn daughter of the master, and Lisbeth, the child in her care. The love that developed between the two was very touching. The evol...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Amanda Croley rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 22, 2012 Beatnik Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Laila Ibrahim's debut novel, Yellow Crocus, follows the story of Mattie, a slave in pre-Civil War Virginia who is taken away from her young baby in order to act as wet nurse to Lisbeth, the daughter of the couple who owns her. Mattie must trust the care of her own newborn to the other field slaves while she spends her time in the Big House raising another woman's child. It is a story of heartbreak and loss, love and loyalty. Above all, it is a story of slavery. Laila Ibrahim works hard to stay t...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Gina rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Yellow Crocus opened my heart in a way that few books ever have! I was instantly intrigued by the life of Mattie, a slave in the south, who was to be a wet nurse for the babies in the promenant Wainwright family. From the moment young Elizabeth, called Lisbeth by her wet nurse, was born these two developed an unbreakable bond. A bond that you will see withstand some tough tests and really bring the beginning and the end together so nicely in this book.

I was instantly a fan of Lisbeth, from...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Louise rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Story Description:

Mattie was never truly mine. That knowledge must have filled me as
quickly and surely as the milk from her breasts. Although my family
‘owned' her, although she occupied the center of my universe, her
deepest affections lay elsewhere. So along with the comfort of her
came the fear that I would lose her someday. This is our story...

So begins Lisbeth Wainwright's compelling tale of coming-of-age in
antebellum Virginia. Born to white plantation owners but raised by her
enslaved black we...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is an amazing tale of a young woman who is a slave on a plantation. Her name is Mattie. The story starts about 3 months after she has had her son, Samuel and progresses all the way to when Samuel is in his twenties. Mattie, due to just having had her son, has milk to feed him. This may seem like a good thing, but this is what changes Mattie’s life forever. Because she has milk still in her breasts she is called in to the white owners’ house late one night to take over as the wet nurse....more This book is an amazing tale of a young woman who is a slave on a plantation. Her name is Mattie. The story starts about 3 months after she has had her son, Samuel and progresses all the way to when Samuel is in his twenties. Mattie, due to just having had her son, has milk to feed him. This may seem like a good thing, but this is what changes Mattie’s life forever. Because she has milk still in her breasts she is called in to the white owners’ house late one night to take over as the wet nurse.

The story takes place in Virginia in the mid 1800s. A plantation owner's newborn daughter Elizabeth in put in the care of an enslaved wet nurse Mattie. You can feel Mattie's pain as she is forced to leave her own child behind to care for a white child in the Big House. Under Mattie's mothering, Lisbeth adopted Mattie's traditions. As the years went by Lisbeth was drawn back to the white world and became more aware of the inequality of their two worlds. The book is written from the persp...more

Set in the 1840/50's during early prohibition, this story takes you through the life of a strong slave woman & the life of the baby she is hired to be a wet nurse for. Can you imagine how you would feel about a woman who was more a mother to you than your own, just because of social status & what was deemed 'proper' ? If a person your family 'owned' seemed to love you more than your own blood? Then imagine growing up to continue the cycle, wealthy plantation owner with slaves and arranged marri...mory Taylor rated it

Sweet story about a young plantation mistress and the black slave woman who nursed her through her early childhood. A deep and abiding love connects them though they become separated. Fate brings them together again years later; lives are saved, relationships renewed, happy ending. I loved watching both the women face their fears, square their shoulders, and make hard and dangerous choices as they faced and defied the social injustices that defined the years prior to the Civil War. Just a ha...more

I really enjoyed this book and was pretty happy that I won it. I love the relationship that Elizabeth has with Mattie, and the ending was just sweet. I wish there had been more content as the story kind of finished really quickly, but it don't feel it took away from the story. I'd love to see another book on what happened to all the other characters as well. See where thing(less)

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Feb 19, 2012 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012, fiction, historical-fiction, free-books, i-own, kindle-books, favorites, top-reads-of-2012

This book was gripping from the word go. A freebie on kindle a few weeks ago I thought this might just be another book following the theme of the popular 'the help' out as both a book and a movie. What I didn't expect was to be dragged into the story until I couldn't help but keep turning the pages until the end.

I don't know much about 1800's American history, it was never something I really studied at school, but I don't doubt for one minute that this book was well researched and true to how i...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm glad to have stumbled on it free for my Kindle, because it was well worth reading, I just felt like the story has already been written time and time again. Trying to avoid any spoilers, I won't go into too much detail, but I've read almost this exact story in many historical fictions set around the south and slavery.
That being said, I realize that many slaves were experiencing similar things at the time, so maybe that is just the way it goes. I just found that near the middle and end, the st...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: civil-war, april-2013

I loved this book, it is the very powerful story about a white baby/girl/woman and her black wet nurse/nanny/midwife. As a newborn Lizbeth is put to the breast of wet nurse Mattie, who must immediately wean her own beloved son Samuel. Wet nurses were very common in the 1800's, and it was common in the slave states for those wet nurses to be slaves. How awful for a woman to have to quit nursing her own baby to nurse another woman's baby. Mattie becomes the most important person in Lizbeth's life....more

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Mar 22, 2012 Lyn M rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Middle school and above, including adults

Recommended to Lyn M by: Netgalley book

Shelves: netgalley, 2012, borrowed, historical-fiction, 2013-monthly-challenge, new-to-me-authors, read-for-review, ya

I was honestly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The story revolves around two characters, Mattie a slave and wet nurse on a Southern Plantation, and Lisbeth, the white daughter of the plantation owner who Mattie is wet nurse to. At first glance it seems that Mattie is the central character and that this is yet another book about the lives of Southern slaves. As the reader progresses, though, you find that the book is as much about Lisbeth and the lives of the daughters of the white pla...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Christina Boulard rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I read the blurb about Yellow Crocus, I was interested enough to want to read it, but wary because it sounded very similar to the HUGELY popular novel-turned-movie, 'The Help'.
I was so wrong!

The ONLY thing Yellow Crocus has in common with The Help is the mother/daughter bond the develops between nurse and child. That's pretty much it.

This story takes place over 20 years in the mid-1800's, before the Civil War and before abolition.

The sympathy the reader feels toward Mattie in this book will...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't even know where to begin. Too many emotions and thoughts are running through my head to form a coherent review...but I'll try!

I know I don't hesitate at all in giving this book 5 stars. It tears at your soul as you read the story of Mattie and Lisbeth, and more importantly, the times in which they and their story lives. It doesn't matter how much you learn or know about such a horrible thing in our country's history as slavery, every time you read an account it opens the pain & ange...more I don't even know where to begin. Too many emotions and thoughts are running through my head to form a coherent review...but I'll try!

I know I don't hesitate at all in giving this book 5 stars. It tears at your soul as you read the story of Mattie and Lisbeth, and more importantly, the times in which they and their story lives. It doesn't matter how much you learn or know about such a horrible thing in our country's history as slavery, every time you read an account it opens the pain & anger & shock all over again. I can't ever wrap my head around how people treated people the way they did. African Americans weren't good enough to treat any better than animals, but yet they were used as wet nurses and raised white babies while their own mothers did not. They were torn from their own families to serve their masters. Treated like herds of cattle and used for all sorts of deplorable acts. It's enraging. It's so many emotions I can't even think straight!

Mattie leaves her own infant to become a house slave for her mistress. She takes Lisbeth from the moment she is born and cares for her by being her wet nurse. She becomes more of a mother to Lisbeth than her own. Lisbeth takes on Mattie's faith, Her ideals, and learns how the slaves in her family home are people too. Over the course of the story Lisbeth and Mattie are separated but the years Lisbeth spent with Mattie have a profound affect on her as she becomes an adult. The times rule so there isn't quite a happy ever after, but it's like a flickering light at a far away tunnel. It's because of generations of people like Mattie and Lisbeth (and Matthew) that learned and shared and went against discrimination that we have come as far as we have. We aren't done. Too often you see and hear different races and religions and creeds going at each other because of differences. If everyone just stood back to see that we have way more things in common, we'd get even further.

I got this book months ago...it was either free or pretty darn cheap...I would pay much more. Great book. The story stays with you way after you finish. I continue to think about this story, and this time period, and I thank God for giving me the parents I have so that I was not raised to have such hatred because of different skin color.(less)

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Feb 05, 2013 Maki Kotone rated it 4 of 5 stars

I hold the belief that fantasy books aren't truly depressing. Fantasy stories are exactly that. They're not real, nor were they ever. While they can cover depressing topics, like the Half-Orcs series, you know that there were never really orcs going around, murdering children.

Books like Yellow Crocus, however, are absolutely depressing. While the story itself may not have really happened, the terrible things that happen, the prejudice, the beliefs were all once entirely real. It's a look back on...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-to-z-title-challenge

This book is an amazing tale of a young woman who is a slave on a plantation. Her name is Mattie. The story starts about 3 months after she has had her son, Samuel and progresses all the way to when Samuel is in his twenties. Mattie, due to just having had her son, has milk to feed him. This may seem like a good thing, but this is what changes Mattie’s life forever. Because she has milk still in her breasts she is called in to the white owners’ house late one night to take over as the wet nurse...more This book is an amazing tale of a young woman who is a slave on a plantation. Her name is Mattie. The story starts about 3 months after she has had her son, Samuel and progresses all the way to when Samuel is in his twenties. Mattie, due to just having had her son, has milk to feed him. This may seem like a good thing, but this is what changes Mattie’s life forever. Because she has milk still in her breasts she is called in to the white owners’ house late one night to take over as the wet nurse for the woman of the house when she has her first baby. Mattie is to now live in the house caring for this new baby instead of her own baby. The tale takes the reader through the growing up of the little girl and how she attaches to Mattie in a way that is “not proper” in the South at that time. The little girl, Elizabeth, has deep feelings for Mattie and sees her as a person, not just a slave. She is told her feelings are wrong and to stop them. As Elizabeth grows Mattie is allowed to make visits to the slave lands outside to see her family and friends once a week. This gives Mattie the chance to still see and have a relationship with her son. As Elizabeth gets older and is in school she teaches Samuel the things she is learning in school and teaches Mattie how to writer her name. This is forbidden, but Elizabeth doesn't know any better and is happy to be teaching them. As the book progresses bad things happen and Samuel is sold and Mattie is beside herself. Elizabeth tries to help, but is too young to understand the ways of her family. Eventually Samuel goes missing along with his Father from another plantation. Mattie is taken to be questioned about what she knows of the runaways. Eventually Mattie decides, after having her second baby (a girl), to run too. She knows where her husband and son probably are, they always made plans for if they could run away, where they would go…to Ohio, the free state. When Jordan, Mattie’s little girl, is big enough Mattie makes the decision and has the chance to run to freedom. It is a MUCH longer and harder journey than she imagined though. Will Mattie make it to freedom? If she does, will she find her family and be able to keep her daughter alive on the journey? And what about Elizabeth, what will happen to her? Will Elizabeth forget Mattie and just go along with her family’s ways about slaves?

I can not even begin to describe this book in a way that does it justice. There is so much that happens in this book and so much that makes you think about the way of the South back then (1800s is when this book is set). I was drawn into the setting and fell in love with the gentle, yet brave and strong character of Mattie. I also loved Elizabeth, and how you got to “see” her grow up into a wonderful young woman through the book. I started this book one day and the next day was up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it. It just amazed me and drew me in. I could not put it down. The writing was wonderful, the language just right for the characters. The story just flowed without seam until the end, where you were left feeling satisfied and with a sense of calm, yet wonder. The book depicts the way a slave was made to live and how they were treated. How they yearned for freedom, even if it meant running away and risking being caught again and punished. Yellow Crocus was a wonderfully written book that tugged at my heart strings and made me thankful for change. This book was fiction, but it had a lot of non-fiction base to it I would say. The situations of the characters throughout the book is phenomenal and there is no way, as a reader, you won’t get drawn in and have feelings for the characters and what is happening in the plot.

5/5 Stars! AMAZNIG book!

**I got this book free from amazon.com**(less)

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Feb 06, 2013 Cw rated it 3 of 5 stars

I think this was mainly written as a light romance novel and if this is so then it deserves high marks indeed - simply because it touches on sensitive issues and does not paint everything with a coat of whitewash.

However, I actually don't think this was just written as another Mills & Boon Gone with the wind book. I therefore ended up with a few problems with it.

(view spoiler)...more

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May 23, 2012 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

Read the original review on my blog
http://bookhoardermom.blogspot.com/20...

From the time she is born Lisbeth Wainwright is cared for by her enslaved wet nurse, Mattie. Mattie does all the things for Lisbeth, that a mother would for her child. Although she is apart from her own son to be here with Lisbeth, she comes to love her as her own. Lisbeth shares the same love for Mattie, even though it is not a popular view in that time period. She grows up on a thin line between the slave world and be...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Cresta rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who liked "The Help"

Recommended to Cresta by: Amazon.com

Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim is a moving novel about the dear relationship between a wet nurse and the child she loves. Laila Ibrahim does a beautiful job of creating a true warmth and compassion for the main character Mattie, and the child she learns to love, Lisabeth (or Miss Elizabeth for a more formal approach).

The novel examines the difficult relationship between slaves and their owners during a time when Ohio represented the free state of escape.

Mattie, a slave that previously worked the...more Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim is a moving novel about the dear relationship between a wet nurse and the child she loves. Laila Ibrahim does a beautiful job of creating a true warmth and compassion for the main character Mattie, and the child she learns to love, Lisabeth (or Miss Elizabeth for a more formal approach).

The novel examines the difficult relationship between slaves and their owners during a time when Ohio represented the free state of escape.

Mattie, a slave that previously worked the fields, is brought unexpectedly into the house as a wet nurse/nanny when the woman originally hired to do this takes ill and dies. Mattie, of course, is nursing her own infant son and struggles to pull herself away from her flesh and blood to raise a white child that is not her own. But, slowly, the relationship develops and Mattie comes to love Lisabeth as her child. Mattie, painted beautifully as a strong and smart woman that is not formally educated, does understand the nuances of loving a baby. It is not this child's fault she is where she is and this drives Mattie's passion to make sure this little girl is raised right; with love and respect for all people, not only those without a dark color.

Lisabeth, the child, is raised in two worlds - Mattie's down in the quarters where she plays on Sundays, and her parents, full of lessons and manners and debutant balls. She is promised to marry, but as she watches the behavior of her brother and the other boys, she begins to find an uncomfortable dynamic between the owners and their slaves, save one boy who isn't like the rest.

Meanwhile, Mattie is battling her own wars trying desperately to find her husband and son, that have run away to attempt to be free. Mattie, using the last bit of strength she has, sets off with her small daughter in tow, to find the family she's afraid is lost for good. Lisabeth is devastated to lose the one woman she loved, and trusted.

Her influence over Miss Elizabeth is never forgotten, even after she leaves their home, and this compassion surfaces in the girl she raised. Forsaking her family and her status in the community, Lisabeth makes a decision that will bring her relationship with Mattie full circle.

Yellow Crocus is a quick read. I could not put the book down and when I absolutely had to, I found myself thinking about it. Not only the story, but truly feeling the depth and emotion of the characters in the novel. The deep south setting is more surreal than painted, and while fried chicken and finger sandwiches dollop the landscape, the beauty of the novel resides within the setting of the characters hearts.

If you are a fan of The Help, this is a book you don't want to miss. While the overarching theme of slavery and the plight of white against black is there, the true development happens in the love of mothers and daughters - born or raised.

To learn more about Laila Ibrahim, visit her author page on Amazon.

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Mar 24, 2012 LORI CASWELL rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012

It’s 1837, Mattie is summoned to the “big house” where newborn Elizabeth (Lisbeth) Wainwright is thrust into her arms to nurse, care for and nurture. It is supposed to be a great honor to get to work in the owner’s home but Mattie had to leave her own baby and her family behind in the slaves quarters. But slaves do what they are told or face cruel punishment so she tries to make the best of it, visiting her family for a few hours on Sundays and glimpses she can catch out the nursery window. Madd...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Malika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Overall, I really liked this book. It was thoughtful and beautifully written.

I was moved. The despair of Mattie for not being with Samuel---but also the conflict that came because her heart was so loving, she could not hate Lisbeth even though she was the key reason for her separation from Samuel.

As the book went along, the perspective of Lisbeth, the depth of love she felt for Mattie was also very touching. The majority of novels set in slavery do not show the bonds that were created. A cruel...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Sandra rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book when I started reading, especially after the first few chapters, but I was pleasantly surprised that as the plot went on I was drawn more and more into the story and lives of Lisbeth and Mattie. They're both strong women and well-written characters, which really added to the richness of the plot. I don't want to get into the ending of the book because I think that's what holds most of the book's charm, but I will say that I don't think it went far enou...more

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Nigerian Kindle U...: Yellow Crocus	1	2	Apr 11, 2013 09:04am
Book Giveaways: Win a copy of this captivating story	1	16	Feb 22, 2013 02:24pm
Characters	3	40	Jan 06, 2013 12:43pm

title link	preview: Yellow Crocus
avg rating	preview: Yellow Crocus Goodreads rating: 4.15 (1926 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10000191-yellow-crocus?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347689883l/10000191.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10000191-yellow-crocus?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim[/url]

Yellow Crocus

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