Yellow Rose of Texas, Freedom Fighter, 1836-1865

Yellow Rose of Texas
Freedom fighter, 1836-1865

Author Joe B. Hewitt enables the reader to enter the mind of this character, Rose, a slave girl, who is abused by her master and dreams of freedom. She is determined to fight for freedom for herself, and for all people. Yellow Rose of Texas is an adventure story, a love story, a spy thriller, but it is also a lesson in Texas history, abolition of slavery, and conflict between the whites and Comanches. The book also expresses the deep-set convictions of Southern gentry and clergy that rationalized slavery and justified treating people as property.

Yellow Rose of Texas is the historical fiction account of Rose, a quadroon slave born in 1814 on a Louisiana cotton plantation, sold to a representative of the Republic of Texas, trained as a spy, and placed into Santa Anna’s headquarters. She is recognized as a hero of the Texas Republic and continues to serve into the Civil War. There is romance, treachery, and ties with actual historical events. The story ends in 1865. It meshes with “My Love, My Enemy,” and can be considered a prequel.