This is a beautiful story about a young girl, Judah who is taken from her village in Africa and sold as a slave to a plantation in Virginia. It tells her story as a slave. Coming here and not knowing the language, and being assigned to work as a cook but not knowing how to cook "American food." Tigger warning- She was raped by her masters and their is abuse that was very common during this time. I loved Judah's strength through adversity!

The book gave me another perspective of how hard life was for slaves, and what a dark period in our history. I listened to the audio version. The narrator made it seem very realistic, but I had to really pay attention to her voice because of the accent. I felt like it added to the story, especially when she sang.

Judah was a real person. She was an enslaved person kidnapped from an African village and made to serve as a cook on a Virginia plantation. She had 12 children and never regained her freedom. Those are the only facts we know about her. However, Brian C. Johnson has created a life for her to remind us that enslaved people were exactly that - people. They were people who loved, hoped, and had dreams for themselves and their children. I enjoyed Johnson's imagining of what Judah's life may have been like. I especially loved the narrator, Elizabeth Isitor.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hidden Shelf Publishing House for an advanced listening copy.

Y'all... I'm going to preface this with saying that I should have requested the ebook NOT THE AUDIOBOOK!! I requested the audio because I greatly prefer and appreciate that format - I can read while I get done things that need to get done. It's amazing. BUT - that all changes when the narrator is as godawful as this narrator was!

I'm not posting this review to goodreads because that's not fair to the author - it's a really good story. I'm engrossed. I'm thoroughly invested. I'm on chapter 21 and I'm quitting this audiobook because every single time this lady mispronounces a word I wanna turn it off. But I'm too into the story! It's like, making my eye twitch omg.

As if the mispronunciation wasn't bad enough (colonel is pronounced ker-nel not call-uhh-nel; Suki is soo-kee not suhh-kee like 'im having a sucky day' just no; are we really calling a hearth a 'heart'??; Whyyy is Judah's name being pronounced differently in different chapters? The J is pronounced as such in some places, in others the J has the Y sound, so it's said as 'yoo-duh'. Please pick one and STICK with it, hun - 'joo-duh' or 'yoo-duh' not both!! AND SO ON) plus she has no talent with impersonations/changing her tone to fit the character. Every person sounds flat and whispery just like her - men, women, children. It's hard to follow back and forth dialogue, like when two or more characters are having a conversation. I just can't take it anymore. So I'm giving the audiobook 0 stars, and that's my honest review. When the book comes out I'll buy it on Amazon and give the novel the 5 star rating it deserves. Hopefully the publisher and author sees these reviews and changes their narrator before release day, that would be amazing because this book deserves to be rated one of the best of the year!

Send Judah First:The Erased Life of an Enslaved Soul by Brian C. Johnson was a beautiful but mostly fictitious account of one female slave who was stolen at thirteen years old from her African village. Judah was taken against her will by slave traders, chained and transported by ship to the southern part of the United States where she was sold into slavery. It was not a life she wanted nor asked for but slavery was her fate.Her story was compelling, haunting and horrific. .

Brian C. Johnson became interested in Judah’s story when he took some students on a field trip to the Belle Grove Plantation in Virginia. He came upon a slave ledger there where Judah’s name had been recorded. He discovered that Judah had been purchased as a cook, gave birth to twelve children and died as a slave in April of 1836. Those were the facts Johnson knew to be true. Based on those facts, Johnson went on to recreate Judah’s life. Send Judah First was a moving account of what Brian C. Johnson imagined Judah’s life to be. Since there was little known knowledge about her other than those few recorded facts, Send Judah First relied heavily upon his impeccable and impressive research. Those combined contributions made Send Judah First an important and worthy historical fiction novel.

Judah had not asked to live the life of a slave. When she arrived on the first plantation she could not speak a word of English. Although she was made a cook, she had no knowledge of the kind of food white people ate or liked. Aunt Sally, the senior cook, took Judah under her wing and taught Judah everything she would need to know to be an accomplished cook. Judah was smart and a fast learner. In a short amount of time she had mastered enough English to be understood and to understand what was being said and asked of her. Her master preyed on her sexually and soon she found herself pregnant with his child. Judah was still a child herself and yet here she was with a child. When the economy began to affect the plantation, Judah was sold to the master at Belle Grove Plantation. The master of the Belle Grove Plantation was a Preacher, a Christian that was unable to view slaves as human beings. To him, his slaves were his property. He often compared their worth to his livestock or farm equipment. He had a mean streak and had anger issues. His wife was no better. She spoke down to Judah and threatened and belittled Judah and her fellow slaves. Her attitude toward slaves was despicable. Over the years, Judah went on to become an impressive cook and healer. She married another slave, Anthony, who also lived and worked on the Belle Grove Plantation. Their master had arranged the marriage after Judah had informed the master that she wanted to marry a man from a nearby plantation. On the night of Judah and Anthony’s wedding, the Preacher master stood and watched the two consummate their marriage, much to Judah’s and Anthony’s embarrassment. Despite everything, Judah’s and Anthony’s love for one another grew and got stronger as the years progressed. As time went on, Anthony was gifted to the preacher’s son. Anthony was often beaten and only allowed to come back to his home with Judah and their children on weekends. Every time Anthony came back home he had a new bruise or the effects of a beating could be detected. It was a cruel life that trapped both Judah and Anthony. There was talk of escape and an Underground Railroad. Would Judah and Anthony ever get to live in freedom or would slavery hold fast?

Send Judah First by Brian C. Johnson was a character driven historical fiction novel. It featured strong, and resilient female characters, especially Judah. I listened to the audiobook that was brilliantly narrated by Elizabeth Isitor. Her voice was calming and yet powerful. The songs that she sang immersed within the audiobook were beautifully presented. It was most definitely a heart wrenching story that struck a chord with all my emotions. It was fast paced and the plot flowed seamlessly. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook and would recommend it very highly.

Thank you to Independent Book Publishers Association for allowing me to listen to this audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received a copy of the audiobook version of this book from NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to give an honest and sincere review.

This book is an amazing story based on the life of a real woman who survived transfer through the Middle Passage, endured the struggles of being enslaved, and survived in a land that was not her home. Judah goes through many harrowing trials, being forced to become a slave, being forced to learn a new language, and not being allowed to marry the person of her choosing, to name just a few.

Johnson's writing is so beautiful and fluid. He makes Judah's thoughts come alive, as if she had actually spoken them out loud to him. The narrator of this audiobook has a beautiful accent that contributes to the character's personality. She gives an added depth to the character that I might not have been able to imagine except through listening to the audiobook.

One disclaimer:
On NetGalley, this title was advertised as a children's book. It, however, should be classified as young adult, or adult novel. There are several scenes in the book that contain sexual assault that, while probably historically accurate, are too mature for children.

I find historical fiction that depicts women's struggles to be so encouraging. In the past, when situations were, in fact, substandard, ladies nevertheless worked their way out to do something they truly wanted. It instills a feeling of pride as well as helps me to see past my problems. Send Judah First, yet again took my breath away after hearing about Judah's efforts of living as a captive after being taken from her family in an African settlement in a night attack.

I liked the book's cover & the blurb that got me to choose the audiobook primarily. The book's thoroughly investigated. The writer does full justice to Judah's & also all characters who were a part of her life. Having stated that, I wanted the storyteller could become pleasanter; I saw that she was too stolid. But, while narrating in African literature, her speech was quite extraordinary.

I just can't comprehend how youthful girls like Judah could stand & though grudgingly, accept their imprisoned destiny. People truly have no one to tell of their confused emotions & the distressing events of living as taken, captured & pushed into servitude. The book is very high-powered & one requires a genuinely big heart to get by Judah's journey.

This a beautifully haunting story told with ultimate compassion and empathy. The addition of the recipes is a welcome distraction from the harrowing tale being told, but does not diminish from the storyline in anyway. I am honoured to have learned about Judah and her family and although some elements are fiction, it simply strengthens the story being told

Send Judah First is the story of a slave named Judah from the moment of her capture until her death. Judah was a real woman, but this book is mostly speculation on what her life was like. There are only two documents in existence that name her, or tell us anything about her. I applaud Mr. Johnson for bringing her to life for us, but readers need to know that he honored her in this book, but fabricated her life. The book is good, and well worth your time. I received an audio ARC of the book from #NetGalley, and I felt that the narrator was easy to listen to, and that adding in the native African language was helpful. However, the narrator does mispronounce a number of different words. On that really bothered me is that for a time Judah was known as Suki which is pronounced Soo-Kee and the narrator called her Suh-kee. This was a common name at the time for slaves. These mispronunciations, Colonel, hearth, and others might be fixed by the time the audio book is in your possession making this part of my review null. Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me to give my voluntary and honest opinion on #SendJudahFirst.

The narrator Elizabeth Isitor did a great job in telling the story
I can’t image what it is like to be 12 years old, kidnapped, separated from family, ending up in a complete new environment, treated worse than an animal, chained and hungry while not understanding a word of the language spoken.
One of the sentences that got to me was when she thinks of her mother and hopes that she had died instead of having the life that Judah has full of shame and constant angst of the slave owners. Having a life that is never your own and at the mercy of the white man.
For the reviewers that did not like the ending. The book is fiction but the base is from documents (accounting ledgers and letters) from Bell Grove Plantation. The author made Judah come to life for us by describing what it is like to be the cook as a slave during that time period at the plantation. Like many others I would like to have known what happen to the children so decided to take a look at the bellegrove.org webpage. It looks like there is continuing research going on and Maria seems to be the only one that they seem to have info on as having four children. Hope the Historical Plantation will keep on with the research so that these people will not be forgotten.

I began this book with a somewhat heavy heart, knowing that the subject matter would be raw and possibly uncomfortable. I was not wrong in the latter respect, however it is also a beautiful book. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to it despite the horrific way Judah and her fellow workers are treated. I SO liked Judah, her spirit of not just survival but making something of her life. The way she takes on learning new wys of living, cooking, cleaning, mothering. She is a glowing example for all around her. She even makes the most of a marriage she didn't ask for and gives love out at every opportunity. Yes this book is about a terrible historical time and we know similar ways still happen today so it is nothing to be celebrated at all BUT Judah and the likes of her are. May we never forget the strength, love and real hummanity displayed in the story. Thank you for the opportunity to share it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It has been published in August 2019.

"Send Judah First: The Erased Life of an Enslaved Soul" by Brian C. Johnson is the heart-wrenching fictionalised biography of a 12-year-old African girl who is kidnapped from her village and sold as a slave in America.
The novel recounts Judah's plight - the violence she suffered and the tortures she had to endure - in a lucid, almost matter-of-fact way.
The protagonist is portrayed as a strong, resilient character who goes through a whole life of abuse without giving in to despair or letting herself be defined by her tormentors' cruelty.
Usually, I'm not a fan of historical fiction, but I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook, not only because of the powerful writing style and the awesome characterisation, but also because Elizabeth Isitor, the narrator, has the most incredible, soothing voice, both when reading and when singing. She gave a truly beautiful performance in this audiobook and I even enjoyed listening to the parts in Swahili, which I barely understood, because her voice was just so musical.
Last but not least, you can tell while you're reading this novel (or listening to the audiobook) that a huge amount of research went into writing this story, but the plot never suffers because of this: Brian C. Johnson's writing style never becomes pedantic or lecture-like. The novel's prose is always captivating and the plot is fast-paced throughout.
I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 only because the ending was a bit anticlimactic and felt slightly rushed.

In “Send Judah First,” author Brian C. Johnson introduces us to a beautiful, resilient young African girl who’s sold into slavery in the 19th-century. Judah must undergo countless traumatic acts. First she’s plucked out of her home and sent to America on a boat under horrifying conditions. Then she’s sold to her Master and Mistress (the wife). She is raped, bearing 12 children and facing constant physical and mental abuse. And she’s forced to be baptized as a Christian (hence the name “Judah”). Despite the fact that her owner does despicable acts as a Christian man. This is a wonderful audiobook, narrated by Elizabeth Isitor and produced by Hidden Shelf Publishing House and the IBPA. This is historical fiction at its finest.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a copy of the audiobook. This is my honest review.

There are many great slave narratives in books. Some books such as Roots and Twelve Years A Slave have set benchmarks that are very tough to match. So before you begin this book, you need to have one thing clear: this book is based on reality only to a limited extent. Judah existed in real life, but what her life actually was like, no one knows in detail. The book is entirely a figment of the author's imagination and research into those times, so it needs to be treated as a historical fiction rather than a true life narrative.

The book starts off really strongly. Right from the first sentence, you are caught in the tension of little Judah being kidnapped from her village in Africa by white traders with the intention of selling her and several others into slavery. The story begins in the early 1800s and moves ahead with Judah‘s age. We see her accept her fate as a slave while her heart still longs for her native place.

What makes this book unique is that unlike most slave narratives, this book doesn’t focus on those who have attempted an escape from slavery, or done anything brave or overtly remarkable in the eyes of modern citizens of the world. It is just an insight into the routine life of one of the thousands of blacks who were kept under harsh slavery on the white plantations in the South. As the author rightly says, there have been so many unnamed slaves whom history has forgotten. This is his attempt to remember just one of those unknown ordinary persons caught under extraordinary circumstances. The daily humiliation, the harsh treatment, the lack of privacy, the disrespect that these people faced just because of their skin colour all comes to the fore in this story. It makes you so uncomfortable to listen to it that you can't help but wonder what it must have been to live through it.

The writing is very interesting especially at the start. The use of Judah’s local African language (not sure what language it is) adds to the flavour of the narrative. In the second half though, the narrative starts becoming a little repetitive and sometimes, a bit farfetched. For instance, when Judah recalls her village, I am sure she wouldn’t say “My beautiful Africa” but use the name of her village. Also, there are way too many recipes given within the second half. While Judah is said to have been a wonderful cook as per the story, the repetitive recipes within the conversation hinder the flow. Having a separate section on the recipes would have been better, and I think that is the case with the digital and physical copies. So this particular issue might be just with the audiobook. Of course, those who are interested in the recipes would find it fascinating.

The audiobook is narrated by Elizabeth Isitor. I found her accent wonderful and authentic. While she does make a few pronunciation mistakes in words such as Colonel or pined, she still did a wonderful job in bringing this book to life. I loved the way she sang wherever there were hymns in the story. Her voice added magic to the narrative.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hidden Shelf Publishing House, for the Advanced Audio Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. In fact, the NetGalley version was 3 hours shorter than the actual audio. I am grateful to Hidden Shelf for quickly sorting out my problem and giving me the complete version of this book.

“Captured and sold into slavery, a young African girl faces a harrowing new life in 19th-century America… Meet Judah in a powerful historical novel that reveals the life of one of the many enslaved people at Virginia’s Belle Grove Plantation.

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.”
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This story was done so well. The author touched on difficulties that the slaves faced and gave the readers a small glimpse at those difficulties, but he didn’t relish on it. The narrator was absolutely fantastic and did a wonderful job. The only complaint I have about the audio version was around 45% of the way through the narrators voice echoed a lot and there were some weird sporadic background noises that was a bit distracting, but it subsided after about 55%. I wish we could have gotten a bit more out of the ending, but Judah I understand that for most slaves there was not a happy ending. I love a good historical fiction and this one was great!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hidden Shelf Publishing House, and the author Brian C. Johnson, for the ALC in return for an honest review.
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Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4)/5

This is a well done story about a young girl who is taken from her home in Africa and sold as a slave to a plantation in Virginia and she rebuilds her life and falls in love. It really told it from a new perspective, and I really liked the narrator, she really added another level of depth to the story, especially when she sang or told stories in her native language it really brought it alive. Judah was strong in facing so much adversity and as many times as this type of story has been told, this one stood out in that way for me. Her master was a preacher and his wife, and they claimed to treat their slaves like family, but they definitely didn’t treat them like people so I don’t know how they justified it in their minds but they did.
Send Judah first is deep, sober and multi layered and I learned some new things in history.
Thanks to Netgalley for this audiobook in exchange for my review.

The narrator Elizabeth Isitor was perfect. She added another layer to this already good narrative. I highly recommend that people listen to this book. Her singing was a true delight.
The story was not an emotional telling like other books I’ve read, but a sober one of some of the atrocities committed. It’s a clear, unfiltered look at the cruel and inhuman things done.
The Christian complacency going on was a bitter pill to swallow and it made me sick. It was accurate and educational. Can we learn from our past? I truly hope so.
Thank you IBPA via Netgalley for this audiobook. I’ve voluntarily given my review.

Based on the African slave trade, it tells the story of Judah aged 12 who is taken from everything she has ever known and transported to America. A story of resilience and bravery, well researched and beautifully read. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook.