The Devil Three Times
A Novel
by Rickey Fayne
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Pub Date May 13 2025 | Archive Date Jun 13 2025
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Description
Yetunde awakens aboard a slave ship en route to the United States with the spirit of her dead sister as her only companion. Desperate to survive the hell that awaits her at their destination, Yetunde finds help in an unexpected form—the Devil himself. The Devil, seeking a way to reenter the pearly gates of heaven, decides to prove himself to an indifferent God by protecting Yetunde and granting her a piece of his supernatural power. In return, Yetunde makes an incredible sacrifice.
Their bargain extends far beyond Yetunde's mortal lifespan. Over the next 175 years, the Devil visits Yetunde's descendants in their darkest hour of need: Lucille, a conjure woman; Asa, who passes for white; Louis and Virgil, who risk becoming a twentieth-century Cain and Abel; Cassandra, who speaks to the dead; James, who struggles to make sense of the past while fighting to keep his family together; and many others. The Devil offers each of them his own version of salvation, all the while wondering: can he save himself, too?
Steeped in the spiritual traditions and oral history of the Black diaspora, The Devil Three Times is a baptism by fire and water, heralding a new voice in American fiction.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780316575171 |
| PRICE | $30.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 416 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Zyrhen L, Bookseller
"The Devil Three Times" is a bold and imaginative debut novel integrating elements of history, spirituality, and the supernatural, it follows the consequences of a fateful deal between Yetunde and the Devil made on a slave ship, affecting her descendants' lives. The story delves into resilience, sacrifice, generational trauma, and spiritual battles. Must read!
Reviewer 1273184
ARC Review: The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne
I heard about this book at work, both my boss and my new coworker had read ARCs so I dashed over to NetGalley for a copy.
This novel follows the descendants of Yetunde, a woman stolen from her home and sold into chattel slavery. Throughout the book, her spirit appears to her descendants, haunting them the way enslavement haunts those who have survived and descended from its suffering.
“The woman’s people were river people, and it was known among them that water bridged the worlds of the living and the dead.”
Each generation gets a POV, often encompassing both Yetunde’s descendants and those who marry or have relationships with them. The story takes us from the 1800s to present day and delves into the problems of the times, as well as the supernatural abilities that are passed down through her bloodline.
“Sometimes life feels like it’s just one terrible thing after another.”
The Devil also has a POV, weaving theological examination (how he relates to God, his father, and Jesus, his brother) into the narrative, and it often left me sympathetic to the fallen angel who continually tried to incite rebellions and disobedience to free those enslaved. His relationship with Yetunde and her children is something I’m still thinking about.
“Religion then, its commandments, its restrictions on who he could and could not love and where and why and how, was nothing more to Franklin than slavery of another order.”
This isn’t a happy story, but there are times of happiness. It isn’t a romance, or horror or religious book, but it weaves those elements throughout as eloquently as any romantic magical realism novel. It made me run through a gamut of emotions, sometimes leaving me shocked, but always evoking emotions.
“…even though we are born alone and even though we die alone, we do not, cannot, live alone.”
I highly recommend this debut novel by Rickey Fayne.
*Publication Date May 13, 2025*
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