Onaedo- The Blacksmith’s Daughter is a work of fiction and the tale of two women separated by four hundred years of history. Maxine, a modern American woman who is half-white and half-African comes across a set of diaries written by a slave in the 16^th century and tries to write a book about it. She uses elements of the discovered diaries in her book and also information she has discovered herself based on ancient stories retold to her by a collaborator.

The main character in the book, Onaedo, an Igbo girl, starts her life in an idyllic town in the heart of West Africa, the daughter of a renowned blacksmith with her own trials and tribulations as a young, independent minded girl growing up in a traditional society but then becomes caught up in the Portuguese slave trade in the age of discovery.

The story moves to Sao Tome, a tiny sugar plantation island off the coast of West Africa and pulls a curtain back to reveal the life of the colonialists in the 16^th century and the twists and turns and uncertainties of life in that era.

There are poignantly drawn sharp storylines and an unforgettable cast of characters and villains; from Oguebie the renegade who betrays his own people of Abonani, to Aku and Ugodi, Onaedo’s aunt and mother both of whom try to guide her through her coming of age into womanhood in Igbo society. The activities of the two Portuguese slave merchants, Pasquale and Alvarez, have a far reaching effect on the lives of the many people that they come in contact with.

There are twists and unexpected turns from beginning to end.

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Available only in Africa!