Jose Lara Lara من عند Satwansa, Uttar Pradesh 284404، الهند
The places are well described and there's an image from one that I will never be able to get out of my head. Sloths hanging from Amazonian trees drying themselves in the Sun.
I saw an offer of a free copy of this book and I requested one thinking that it might be a good book for our group to discuss next February for Black History Month. It far exceeded my expectations! This is a terrific piece of historical fiction. The book follows the life of Aminata Diallo from her childhood in the small African village of Bayo until her old age in London. Captured by slavers when she was 11 years old and sent to live in slavery in Charleston, SC, her life encompasses the birth of the United States and the Revolutinary War. Rather than reveal too much of what happens to Aminata, I will let future readers discover this for themselves. I will say that by teaching his daughter to read and write, Aminata's father paved the way for her to become an exceptional person. Because of her skills, she was given advantages that were unheard of for black people in the 1700s. She lived her life with grace and dignity despite the terrible losses she suffered. I didn't want this book to end and I look forward to reading it again next February.
Sooooo good. I read this just as I was starting to get into the work of a lot of great dystopian writers. Short and sweet, a great satire. Loved it.