Sadeqa Johnson on Keeper of Lost Children
I was first introduced to Sadeqa Johnson’s work through a recommendation from a mentor in the publishing industry.
The book? Yellow Wife.
I was not big on Historical Fiction, but something about the synopsis and, low-key, the cover made me give it a try. And I’m so happy I did because I stand before you today as someone who will drop everything I’m reading when a Sadeqa Johnson book is released.
Her ability to weave her imagination with historical facts is unmatched. Sadeqa Johnson is a New York Times bestselling author. Her novel The House of Eve, was an instant New York Times bestseller and a Reese’s Book Club pick, as well as an NAACP Image Award nominee, a Goodreads Choice Award finalist, and a Target Book Club selection.
Her previous novel, Yellow Wife, earned the Library of Virginia’s Literary People’s Choice Award and was also a Goodreads Choice Award finalist, a Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy finalist, a BCALA Literary Award honoree, and a Barnes & Noble Book Club pick.
I got the chance to talk to Johnson about her new novel, Keeper of Lost Children.
The story follows three main characters: Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. Ozzie Phillips, a Philadelphia native who volunteers for the military during the time of its segregation, and Sophia Clark, a young high school girl who has a hard life but gets accepted prestigious all-white boarding school that’s just been desegregated.
On the surface, these people don’t have a connection, but when Ethel discovers a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GIs, that’s when all their worlds collide.
We also talked about her journey as a Historical Fiction author, how she keeps finding new stories to tell, and everything in between. Check out our full episode below… be sure to like, comment, and share the episode.
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