New This Week
April 11, 2022
April 12, 2022
It’s a slow week for under-the-radar new releases. (Although there are plenty of big ones, so be sure to check out our featured titles!) So, we’re putting the whole spotlight on one book about a forgotten hero of history.
The Devil’s Half Acre by Kristen Green
Mary Lumpkin lived in the notorious slave prison of a brutal slave owner, forced to bear his children in what was known as The Devil’s Half Acre. When the slave owner died he left the prison to Mary, and in an act that celebrated freedom and education she transformed it into God’s Half Acre, founding what would become Virginia Union University, one of the country’s first Historically Black Colleges and Universities and a path to liberation for thousands of freed slaves. This is a pick for anyone who enjoyed Hidden Figures.