Julie L. Brown (1)

A remarkable book spanning 2 centuries of strong black women, often powerless as children to the evils surrounding them, but strong and resilient when it comes time to defend their daughters from the same plight. Each generation has its unique obstacles, just as each mother finds her own way to combat them.

Aisha's story is the first told by the author. She and her husband and children are free people in Africa and have been captured by the slave traders to work on the plantations in the show more southern United States. The plantation owner purchases her and declares that she was "his'. With no other choice, she endures this situation but when she sees that her daughter will end up following this pattern, she takes action. Throughout the following generations her successors hold her up as an example of strength and a guide to their own actions.

I will definitely read more books by Julie L. Brown! show less

In this reimagined alternate history, author Julie L. Brown asks, What if, in 1619, when Portuguese slave traders arrived to kidnap and enslave more Africans, they encountered a female-led society whose warriors not only fought back but captured their ship and used it to sail across the Atlantic and rescue their kin? When slavers begin invading neighboring villages, kidnapping and murdering their people, rather than waiting for the same fate to befall them warrior princess Chibuike, whose show more mother is the queen of Kana, and her army commandeer a ship, shackle its crew, and sail across to the English colony of Virginia to alter the futures of generations of Africans.

The story appears to be at least partly inspired by the "Amazon" warriors of the West African kingdom of Dahomey, which flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries. I relished the idea of and appreciated this ambitious exploration of role-reversal, with respect not only to gender and society but of military power and influence. I did find that the author faltered subtly at times, occasionally allowing a 21st-century western lens to color the narrative in minor ways (neither bougainvillea nor canna lily are in Africa at this time in history, a character describing the pronunciation of a name using the names of Latin letters, "womanned"). To be fair, it would be challenging to avoid. The resolution, while uplifting and hopeful for the characters, felt to me somewhat short-sighted. Abandoning Port Comfort almost certainly doomed it, but that's my own 21st-century lens speaking. Overall, the message was exciting, imaginative and daring, but the execution was just slightly lacking for me.

I received this ARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. show less

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be ambitious. Perhaps too ambitious.

The premise is admirable. What if the West African kingdoms had worked to actively stop the slave trade before the colonies had actively found their footing? In this situation, "no one will save us" but ourselves.

The problem with the book lay in its execution. The protagonist, Chibuike, of the queendom of Kana is obviously based on the Dahomey warriors. However, whereas the actual tribe actually played show more a role in continuing the slave trade, the Kanaians are portrayed as near paragons of virtue, with only some social equality issues, but otherwise very invested in supporting their women, aiding their neighboring tribes, and abstaining from slavery.

The characters (of which there are many, to the point where it becomes difficult to remember them all), are somehow all geniuses, capable of quickly overcoming language barriers and physical might, to the point where they somehow manage to emerge victorious in a battle against sixty warships from England in just a few short pages.

And that is the other issue. Because of all the events that Brown attempts to get to, the pacing is breakneck. Major important plot points are simply told over a few short sentences, because to do so otherwise would likely triple the page count of this book. However, the result is that a lot of emotional impact of the events is lost due to the speed by which it happens.

In short, I left this book with very mixed feelings. On one hand, I appreciated how it pulled no punches in describing the very real horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. On the other, the way it appeared to easily resolve every major issue and source of modern trauma in such a neat bow in a way appeared to trivialize just how extensive the damage of this event was to POC.

Thanks to the author and LibraryThing for allowing me to read a free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

This is my first book by J.L. Brown and by the time I got to the middle I had bought the first 3 to read also. It has everything you want in a political thriller. When I got to the halfway point I couldn't put it down until I finished. And the ending was definitely jaw dropping. I can't wait for number 5. A very good read. I received this from LibraryThing Early Reviewers for an honest review.