Twelve years a slave vs Yellow Wife: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Plantation life, Slavery, African Americans, History
Twelve years a slave
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Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of…
Yellow Wife
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Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Yellow Wife highest: Yellow Wife 4.4 · Twelve years a slave 4.2.
- Twelve years a slave has the widest readership — 126971 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| Twelve years a slave | Yellow Wife | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (126971) | 4.4 (97583) |
| Hardcover | 4.4 (55) | 4.2 (47) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (432) | 4.5 (1088) |
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Reception
| Twelve years a slave | Yellow Wife | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 126971 | 97583 |
| Editions | 1029 | 7 |
| Citations | 20 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 163710 | 175868 |
| Reading it now | 11650 | 5543 |
| Written reviews | 8818 | 10948 |
| Wikipedia attention | 5836 | — |
| Pages | 192 | 288 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Twelve years a slave or Yellow Wife?
Yellow Wife has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Yellow Wife 4.4/5, Twelve years a slave 4.2/5).
Which is shorter to read: Twelve years a slave or Yellow Wife?
Twelve years a slave is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Twelve years a slave (192 pages, ≈ 3 h 33 m); Yellow Wife (288 pages, ≈ 5 h 20 m).
Which is harder to read: Twelve years a slave or Yellow Wife?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Twelve years a slave: Challenging; Yellow Wife: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Twelve years a slave: 5 film adaptations; Yellow Wife: no film adaptation on record.