I received an e-ARC version of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

“The Devil’s Half Acre” is by Kristen Green. It’s a non-fiction story about the part Richmond, Virginia had in the role of slavery. Yes, my summary differs from the publisher’s summary, but - let me be honest - this is a difficult book for me to review!

If I could give a rating based upon the amount of historical research Ms. Green did for this book, I would - and it would be a very high five stars. She lists an extensive amount of articles and books she used for background material. She also consulted genealogical records to track movement - so, she did a great job of due diligence. However, because so little is known about Mary Lumpkin, while she’s a common thread in this story, so much is guesswork about her life. There are some facts however - she was an enslaved woman (at the time a young teenager) forced to bear children of Robert Lumpkin, who owned and ran Lumpkin’s Jail in Richmond, VA. Mary outlived Robert Lumpkin and she inherited the land Lumpkin’s Jail had been on (Robert died after the Civil War ended) and, she offered the land and buildings up to become a school, eventually becoming Virginia Union University.

For me, sadly, where the overall book falls short is in the overall structure of the book. For instance, a lot of time is spent at the beginning with the author discussing her word choices and why she made those choices. There are ways to do this that don’t take nearly 30 pages to explain to the reader. Because so little is known about Mary Lumpkin, the author uses a lot of qualifiers “maybe Mary Lumpkin did this,” “Maybe Mary Lumpkin and Person_name discussed this,” and the etc. So much is unknown - including why she left Virginia and moved to Ohio (the author makes some guesses - but I would’ve preferred a straight “Mary moved there and lived with PersonX, but there’s no documentation saying why she made that choice.”). Mary is always referred to as “Mary Lumpkin,” which I found a bit awkward to read after a number of pages. Yes, that’s a stylistic choice, but since Mary seemed to be the only Mary in the book, it became annoying. The author had a message to convey with this book - and she delivers it, but at times for me it became mired down in political correctness, “these people good, these people bad,” and leaps in time (example: beginning a discussion occurring in 1840, then including historical information from the 1790s, then jumping to the 1930s before returning to the 1850s) that made it difficult to always keep track of what was happening when.

As a side note, if you have read the historical fiction book "The Yellow Wife," by Sadeqa Johnson, the main character, Pheby Brown, is based upon Mary Lumpkin.netgalley52 s Kara (Books.and.salt)495 39

I feel AWFUL giving this book two stars, because it's honestly well written and clearly a TON of research went into this book. I appreciate the amount of thought and care that went into the language used and descriptions given. There was a lot of interesting information included - it just was either uncertain or not about the title character.

My issue is that there was so much speculation in this book. I understand that there isn't much information on her out there, but I would have preferred "and we don't know what happened" over "well maybe she did this, but she probably did this." It's not factual information when it's just speculation.

Also there was so many random quotes from other journals of enslaved people or records, that had nothing to do with this woman's story. I think if this book was marketed as telling the stories of female slaves in a certain time period, it would have been wonderful. But saying this is the story of a single specific woman, who very little information of was found, is inaccurate.

Many thanks to SealPress for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.gifted49 s1 comment Sharon OrloppAuthor 1 book886

I listened to The Devil's Half Acre: The Untold Story of How One Woman Liberated the South's Most Notorious Slave Jail on audiobook and was very interested in learning more about Mary Lumpkin and how she transformed from being a slave to turning a slave jail into an HBCU, Virginia Union University.

Unfortunately, the book felt listening to a history book rather than a compelling narrative about an amazing, trailblazing woman. history-and-politics nonfiction social-justice-de-i50 s Faith2,016 591

Mary Lumpkin was sold to a Virginia slave trader and was forced to start producing his children when she was 13. The trader operated a jail known as Devil’s Half Acre where enslaved people were held until they were sold. Lumpkin and her children lived at the jail. When the slaveholder died he left his property to Lumpkin and their children. She turned the property over to people who started a school, that eventually became Virginia Union University. She did not “liberate” the jail.

The author obviously put a lot of research into this book. However, very little is actually known about Mary Lumpkin so the book is really more of a general account of slavery than it is about Lumpkin. There is too much speculation in this book for my tastes. The word “perhaps” is used 140 times, and “may have” is used 154 times. That makes me reluctant to count on this book for reliable information. If you want an account of slavery, there are better books. There just isn’t enough known about Lumpkin to fill a book - maybe a magazine article.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. audio netgalley overdrive ...more40 s1 comment Sue1,328 597

The Devil’s Half Acre deals with an aspect of American based slavery that I had never considered, and one of great importance to the history of slavery throughout its history in this country. Richmond Virginia was the center of the slavery trading itself, becoming a crossroads where the human cargo from early ships or traded/sold slaves were bound to new destinations. This is where runaways were sought or brought if found.

Mary was an enslaved black woman who lived in Robert Lumpkin’s house at his slave jail at Devil’s Half Acre. She was mother to five of his children. That is known and acknowledged. Apparently several of these white jailers had many children by enslaved black women under their control. What the author has discovered, through careful and meticulous research over the years, is what happened to some of these women and their children. It’s a fascinating story that adds layers to the hypocrisy that surrounds the entire institution of slavery.

In the course of this book, the story moves from the dominance of Virginia to the rise of the lower South and resulting move of large numbers of slaves also to the lower South. There are stories about the casual destruction of families as either parents or children are sold away. Another section deals with the Civil War in Richmond and what happens to the jails once the slaves have been freed. Mary Lumpkin (yes, she used his name) played a major role in this area, and in the future of her children and former slaves in Virginia.

While there might not be specific facts available for each event in Mary Lumpkin’s life, the author was able to find her on census records, property deeds and family letters. She is also able to see trends for other women Mary, who lived near her at different times and would have have had similar concerns re: their children, future, safety, etc. The sub-title itself may be somewhat misleading as to how large Mary’s role was, but she did have a role in the future education of black men in Richmond. I believe the extrapolation works here and that Green has made her case.

Recommended reading to obtain a broader outlook on the history of race in the United States.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.african-american american-southern history ...more22 s Erin 1,387 1,401

4.5 Stars!

I've been semi retired from reading lately, my reading slump has been horrific. I only read 4 books in March, which may sound fine to most people but for me that's the same as not reading at all. I don't know what the cause of my slump is but I choose to blame Tom Sandoval...If you don't know who that is, God Bless you, you are living life right.

Anyway....

Am I out of my slump?

I don't know. Maybe I just needed to read this book and I will again fall into this black hole of a slump.

Now on to the actual review.

I found this book through my desire to read another book, Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson. I've wanted to read this book since it came out and it is on my bookshelf, but as usual when I really want to read a book I instead read every other book I own. Yellow Wife is a Historical Fiction novel that is semi based on a Richmond, Virginia slave jail and enslaved woman Mary Lumpkin who lived there as the "companion" of the owner. After her slave owner with who she had children died she took over the jail and turned it into a school, which is now known as Virginia Union University.

The Devil's Half Acre is actually my favorite kind of History book about slavery, because it's about women. For years and years slavery was told first through the view point of white men, then Black men, then white women and eventually through Black women. Despite the fact that Black women literally were the basis for slavery continuing, Black women were raped to breed more slaves. Black women had and continue to have less agency over our bodies than anyone else. Mary Lumpkin was owned by the father of her children and despite being treated as his wife she was still property, who could have been sold or had her children sold on a whim. She may have had more "freedom" than most enslaved people but she was not free.

This is a great book and I think it should be essential reading for white people..My fellow Black people if you choose to read this please take care of your mental health. This book is about slavery and if you as a Black person don't want to put yourself through that don't. White folks yall need to read this.

A must read!2023-nonfiction april-2023 best-non-fiction ...more16 s Jim1,252 81

Reporter and author Kristen Green has done some meticulous research to bring to light the story of an enslaved woman named Mary Lumpkin. She also gives us the story of "the Devil's Half Acre," the Richmond, Virginia slave jail known as Lumpkin's Jail. Mary was bought by the slave trader Robert Lumpkin and forced to have his children. This is the same horrific story that was repeated time and again in the South, but, in this particular case, Mary was able to have her children sent to the North. She was able to free herself as well. And, amazingly enough, at Robert's death not long after the end of the Civil War, she was able to inherit the former jail. It became "God's Half Acre," a school for Black students which became Virginia Union University, one of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
I think Green did an extraordinary job piecing together the life of Mary Lumpkin, a woman of color lost to history, countless others. There is a lot of speculation in the story as there is a lot that's just not known. I do give Green's book a solid 4 stars, especially for giving us a powerful picture of an important aspect of slavery that is not well-known and that was the extremely profitable business of slave trading that went on in the Southern states. It was a business that enriched men Lumpkin but it was sheer horror for Black people, as men, women, and children were sold "down the river." Family members, such as mothers and their small children, were cruelly separated from each other. We as a nation have yet to face up to the total inhumanity of slavery and what was done to human beings in this country, all for profit, to make money.16 s D118

The author shares a lot of meandering stories of slavery and the slave trade. Many of which are fairly well known but still interesting. I was looking forward to an in depth historical account of Mary Lumpkin, who I have not heard about. However, this never really came to fruition. A very large part of the “history” shared by the author is heavily rooted in supposition. The author had some basic historical tidbits which she then ran with to mold Mary Lumpkin into a character of her making. The author's writing with regards to Mary is riddled with phrases such as: “most probably”, “perhaps”, “ly”, “may or may not”. It’s almost comical how often these phrases are used in a supposed historical account. I realize much of Mary’s history is missing, or not yet revealed but to just fill in the blanks without proof is the genre of historical fiction. It absolutely seems Mary had a rough go of it to say the least but to lionize her with conjecture is not right either. The author states that the Richmond Jail/slave pen was liberated by Mary. I may have missed something but I believed the slave pens were liberated by the impending arrival of the US Army under Grant as they moved into Richmond after Lee skedaddled. Also much is made of the slave pen Mary owned as it was transformed into a school for former slaves that morphed into a HBCU. A good thing for sure but Mary’s motivation to sell or rent the pen for this purpose as altruistic is suspect at best. After the Civil War her finances were in shambles.She owned an old slave pen that had no use for it’s designed purpose and she owed taxes on it. No one wanted to buy an old slave pen, there were many in Richmond, except for those who wanted to convert them into schools for the formerly enslaved. So I’m thinking the motivation to sell was something much less than that of a grand vision and more of limited means and survival. I really wanted to Mary for being fearsome abolitionists working behind the scenes but the proof, at least with this book, is just not there. The author canonizes Mary on scant to no actual hard evidence. It’s just as ly Mary was an opportunist, capitalizing on the cards dealt to her after a brutal system collapsed towards the last days of the Civil War, and who could blame her for that. biography civil-war race-relations8 s Annette Jordan2,403 58

The Devil's Half Acre by Kristen Green takes the story of Mary Lumpkin , a formerly enslaved woman who survived and eventually transformed the slave jail of her former owner into a school which later became Virginia Union University , and uses it to illustrate what life was for those enslaved in the United States before and during the American Civil War, and in its aftermath.
The book is much broader in scope than I expected from the description and while Mary Lumpkin's story is the central narrative thread that runs through the book, there is a lot of more general social commentary about the time. I was a little perturbed by the repeated use of phrases "perhaps she felt" , while I understand that accurate historical sources are limited, I would have preferred to have a more concise account based on fact rather than supposition. As might be expected given the subject matter, this is not easy reading , there are many disturbing descriptions of the appalling treatment the enslaved endured.
This is a well researched history book but those who are expecting a more narrative driven biography style book may be a little disappointed.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.8 s Becky1,454 1,832

Last year (I think?) I listened to Yellow Wife, which was based on (or probably more accurately simply inspired by) the story of Mary Lumpkin. I have a hard time with historical fiction based on real people's lives, because I to know what's true and what's authorial liberty. So, I added this book to my TBR in order to learn more about Mary Lumpkin, the actual woman.

And... I don't really think this book accomplished that for me.

Don't get me wrong, this was really thoroughly researched and well presented, and as fairly true as evidence seemed to allow, but it just didn't really help me to understand MARY any better. It felt there were just gaping holes where her story should be, and questions and hypotheses and educated assumptions based on prevailing attitudes and customs and such to lead to a possible explanation of who Mary was and what her life was really - but I still don't really feel I got HER STORY.

The history of Lumpkin's jail, and the legacy of what it became, is really interesting to me, but that's not really what I was here for. So... well-written and researched and very fairly represented, but ultimately a smidge disappointing, though through no lack of effort on the author's part. audiobook library-books library-nepa ...more7 s Aileen WeintraubAuthor 78 books35

The Devil's Half Acre is a carefully researched excavation of history. Green tells the story of Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman who survived the brutality and trauma of slavery inside a prison known as The Devil's Half Acre. When the jail was bequeathed to her after the slave trader who owned it died, she help found a school on the site, which became the cornerstone for one of America's first HBCUs. As one of 2 million women and girls enslaved in America's south, Lumpkin's is a story that needs to be told. This is powerful book of resilience detailing her historic contributions. 7 s Mariah89

This is a harsh book to read about a hard topic. As the author states at the beginning of the book, they are not going to sugarcoat anything about the time period or the people they are writing about. There are quite a few parts of this book that are hard to read and I had to break it into chunks sometimes, just so I could absorb what the author was writing. Even if you think you know about slavery and that era from school or other places, this book really lays bare aspects of slavery that are not talked about enough and what it was for those enslaved people.
There is frank writing throughout the book about the choices that those who were enslaved made and what they went through that might have factored into those choices. Those who were enslaved had to often make really hard decisions about how they lived and interacted with not only their fellow enslaved people, but also with those who enslaved them and anyone who was not enslaved.
There is really too much in this book to distill it down into one review, but all I can say is that this book is hard and it does not shy away from the history it discusses and it leaves you needing to learn more no matter how hard.
A highly-recommended read, but be prepared for some tough reading.5 s Dea608 1 follower

This is the most disorganized and mistitled book I have ever read. I understand that the information on the life of Mary Lumpkin is scarce, but the author made it sound she was able to scrounge something by sources other than Mary's own words. Instead we got a lot of stories about people adjacent to Mary and those who were unrelated to her in any way shape or form. This is not telling her story.

There is also not much about the jail becoming a school. The part of it going from one to another is a couple of pages. The rest is just bits and pieces of people's lives in a haphazard retelling.

Part of me thinks that the reason Mary Lumpkin was made the center of the book is because women's narratives, especially enslaved women's narratives, are popular right now. People would be enticed, for whatever reason, to pick up a book about a life of an enslaved woman who bore children from her enslaver. Less people would pick up a book about a slave jail and those that resided inside.

The only reason I gave this book an extra star is for teaching me that slave jails existed. Somehow that fact, that people that were property would need to be kept somewhere for extended period of time outside of plantations, never occurred to me. 5 s The Sassy Bookworm3,642 2,804

???

Well written. Well researched. Fascinating (but incredibly difficult to read) subject. The main issue I had with this book was that I was expecting it to be about "Mary Lumpkin". However, she is really just a side note throughout this book. Very little is known about her and it shows. The author relies on supposition more often than not. That said, I still applaud this author for the incredible amount of research she did.

**ARC Via NetGalley**5 s Carol Dunlap2

I am really enjoying this nonfiction, sweeping account of the life of Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman forced into a relationship with a slave trader, and to bear his children. Her enslaver was the owner of a slave jail in Richmond, Va. While the author freely discusses that much is missing in terms of specific details of Mary Lumpkin's thoughts, she provides context that asks readers to draw on their own sense of humanity, of vulnerability, to calculate the possibilities. That this enslaved woman could accomplish so much
under such constricted circumstances, in securing freedom and education for her children, and in establishing a school for others who had been enslaved, is a marvel. That the author was able to compile so much fact-based context is a testament to preserving and celebrating the life of Mary Lumpkin. I have learned so much. It is my sincere hope that this book will be read far and wide. Mary Lumpkin is a true American hero. 4 s Ann20 1 follower

Having just read the book, I totally agree with FIRETRUCKMAMA’s review. Marvelous research and a wonderful story. But the writing is truncated and politically correct, so the book is difficult to read.3 s Lisa LewisAuthor 4 books10

Green has done a masterful job of reconstructing the life of Mary Lumpkin, an enslaved woman who inherited an infamous slave jail in Richmond, Va., and transformed it into a place of hope. The book’s title, The Devil’s Half Acre, refers to the jail itself, a true place of horrors for countless enslaved people. Even with Green’s exhaustive research, she’s had to fill in some of the gaps as she imagines various details of Lumpkin’s life. This is an essential re-creation that sheds light on a brutal and horrible chapter of American history. It was at times a difficult read, but I’m grateful to have received an advance copy.3 s Amber47

I had pretty high hopes for this book. I was mostly put off by all of the speculation. I understand that there isn't a lot of information out there about Mary Lumpkin but this book absolutely did not have to be dedicated to her. I think if it had been a general book about enslaved women with some known facts about Mary Lumpkin it would have been much better.2 s Janilyn Kocher4,193 93

Green provides more of a social commentary about the history of slavery around Richmond, Virginia than focusing solely on the life of Mary Lumpkin, which makes for a very misleading title.. What she includes about Lumpkin is quite interesting. She envelops it in broad historical sweeps that are distracting, it felt she was trying to add in every major historical event from colonial times to present. She makes numerous suppositions that are nebulous and vague. I learned more by reading The Yellow Wife.
Thanks to Seal Press and NetGalley for the early read.2 s Leeann49 3

4.5/5.0 stars 2 s Sara2

This book brilliantly demonstrates how much of Black history we scarcely know about. “White men have historically told the stories. As the record keepers, they determined whose stories would endure the test of time and whose would vanish.” This story was not only about Mary Lumpkin, but also the hardships that Black enslaved women, Mary, had to face for the duration of their lives. The resilience that Mary inhabited was demonstrated beautifully throughout this story.

Green’s extensive research included a numerous amount of retellings about other enslaved men and women and their abusers. One of those short retellings happened to be about Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who was Thomas Jefferson’s “concubine” at the age of 16. “The legacy of America’s beloved third president did not include his enslaved children and their enslaved mother, an omission that suspended Americans in a false understanding of their nations history.” These retellings go on to further exemplify the abuse that Black enslaved women had to endure throughout history that continue to go unacknowledged nor talked about today.

Though Green had to fill in some gaps with Mary’s story, The Devils Half Acre does justice recounting Mary’s life as well as recounting the unfair, cruel treatment done upon those just her. Very grateful to receive a copy of this book as part of a Goodreads giveaway! 2 s Katherine521 6

Ms Green has carefully researched and patched together the story of Mary Lumpkin as best possible given the scarcity of records on enslaved women. She sheds light on the injustices practiced against enslaved families and enslaved women in particular by enslavers. The history of slave trade is laid bare with all its sordid detail. Several figures of speech and terms are explained in the context in which they came to be. An excellent read that particularly bores into the finer details of slave trade mostly in Virginia (where Ms Lumpkin herself was enslaved). We follow her up north and encounter several other contemporaries who, herself, contributed to pivotal moments in US history. More people should hear the story of the founder of Virginia Union. A great addition to any library's history collection. Ms Green's engaging narrative style makes this a hard book to put down.2 s Brian6

This is a very good book. Definitely worth a read, amazing story of courage and resolve. I highly recommend it. What a great read! Can I make a general remark on something I've noticed with almost every Goodreads email suggestions? There is a very distinct lack of diversity of authors. The vast majority of writers being promoted are women. It's great to see as I love women writers with a different perspective on many things, but it needs to be more balanced than it is. It's beginning to look it's biased against male writers and I've noticed that many new releases by male writers are ignored. Let's have some equality. IOf 60 books listed, at least 42 of them are women writers. It's been this for quite some time. This is gender bias too. 2 s Octavia277 51

Kristen Green brings to Life the very True Hidden story of a young enslaved woman, Mary Lumpkin. In this gripping biography, she was forced to have children by a slave trader and live in his slave jail known as "The Devil's Half Acre. Although she never marries the slave trader, Robert Lumpkin. She does inherit the slave jail after he passes away; renaming it "God's Half Acre" which became a School where Black children to could fulfill their dreams. Remarkably, it does still exists today known as Virginia Union University, one America's first Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

This author has done a superlative task with researching the didactic facts. The depth and importance of the information may cause your emotions to spiral a Whirlwind, at times. I have to be honest with saying that.. it is best to take reading Breaks, after every 2 chapters of reading this one. It because hard for me to digest the Dollar amounts of purchased slaves, etc. And, there is so much more but, I will not spoil for other readers. Please, do not take any of my words, negatively.
I loved Every Piece of this Book! A Book of resilient woman's fight to Freedom that leads to her Legacy.

Most Importantly, This GEM Is Not Written in Any Opionated Manner, at All...

My THANKS Goes to the Author
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