Send Judah First: The Erased Life of an Enslaved Soul

A must-read novel about 19th century slavery in America. A young girl’s life is shattered when she is stolen from her African village in a midnight raid. Ruthlessly torn from her family to be beaten, chained, degraded, and enslaved in a heartless world she can barely comprehend. The slave ledger at Virginia’s Belle Grove Plantation only reveals that Judah was purchased to be the cook, gave birth to 12 children, and died in April 1836. But, like the other 276 faceless names entered in that ledger, Judah lived. Brian C. Johnson’s important work of historical fiction goes beyond what is recorded to portray the depth, humanity, and vulnerability of a beautiful soul all but erased by history. For Judah, as Johnson notes, “did the ultimate—she survived. Not as a weakling, but resilient and determined.”

"As Belle Grove researches the lives on the men, women, and children who were enslaved here, the story of Judah seized our hearts. We are so pleased that it has inspired the heart, imagination, and talents of Brian C. Johnson too. Although we still have many questions about the lives of Judah and her children that we hope to answer, this story brings her to life in a magical and powerful way. We can't wait for you to meet her."

-Kristen Laise, Executive Director at Belle Grove Plantation

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"Compelling, haunting, horrific and beautiful. In Send Judah First, Brian C. Johnson has crafted a novel that brings vividly to life enslaved people - Judah, Aunt Sally, Truelove, Anthony... - that so many have tried to erase from American history. A heart-wrenching and essential story."

-Thomas Norman DeWolf, author of Inheri- ting the Trade, and co-author of Gather at theTable and The Little Book of Racial Healing

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"Send Judah First is a wonderful piece of historical fiction. Drawing on a small number of surviving historical records, Brian C. Johnson paints a beautiful portrait of a woman in slavery in nineteenth-century Virginia and provides great insight into their life and work. Joh son boldly exposes some of the very worst aspects of human bondage - sexual abuse, physical punishment, and the mental anguish of reconciling the Christianity of the southern masters with their own treatment as slaves."

- Jennifer Oast, associate professor of history, Bloomsburg University, author of Insti- tutional Slavery: Slaveholding Churches, Schools, Colleges, and Businesses in Virginia, 1680-1860