BLOG TOUR: Breaking the Maafa Chain by Anni Domingo

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Anni Domingo's Breaking the Maafa Chain. Today, on our tour stop, we have a review AND a tour-wide giveaway to share. So... Be sure to check it out and grab your copy now! Follow the tour, HERE.

Genre:

Adult

Black & African American Literary Fiction

Historical Fiction

Publish Date:

February 1, 2022

Publisher:

Pegasus Books

Synopsis:

A richly imagined story of two sisters' struggle for true freedom in the mid-nineteenth century as their paths diverge in the middle passage—one to the court of Queen Victoria, the other to an American plantation.

Salimatu and her sister Fatmata are captured, sold to slavers, renamed and split apart. Forced to change their names to Sarah and Faith, they end up on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Faith is taken to America, where slavery is still legal and she is stripped of all rights. Sarah ends up in a Victorian England and as the goddaughter of Queen Victoria. Can the two sisters reclaim their freedom and identity in a world that is trying to break them down? Will these once inseparable sisters survive without each other? And if they do find each other again, will they find the other changed beyond recognition?

Based on the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Breaking the Maafa Chain is by turns epic and intimate and will take the readers on a journey of loss, survival, and hope.

       

      

~~~~~

Praise for Breaking the Maafa Chain

"[Breaking the Maafa Chain] is powerful in detailing the cruelties of the transatlantic slave trade, and sensitive and intimate in its portrayal of the girls’ struggles to maintain their dignity and hold on to the memories of their African heritage. With descriptions rich in sensory details, a narrative that forms a swift, irreversible current, and conversations imbued with emotion, Anni Domingo’s story of the Maafa, the African Holocaust, is unforgettable." —Foreword Reviews, starred review

“The story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, extraordinary even in extraor­dinary times, known to some in Sierra Leone, though virtually unknown elsewhere. Now Anni Domingo has brought her vividly to life in this richly imagined and compellingly told tale. Breaking the Maafa Chain is a gift to readers everywhere.” —Aminatta Forna author of The Window Sea

“Part fact, part fiction, Breaking the Maafa Chain is an important book, beautifully told. Domingo’s premise is a bold and uncom­promising one—taking what is known, the story of Salimatu, the ‘Black Princess’, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, and weaving through it the story of her fictionalized sister, Fatmata, Faith. Domingo makes an eloquent point: that although the sisters suffered different fates, both were unfree: Fatmata enslaved in North America and Salimatu gifted to Queen Victoria, and utterly at her whim. It is a story that has resonance today, where Meghan Markle was expected to shape herself to a white institution, to belong.” —Guinevere Glasfurd author of The Year Without Summer

“Anni Domingo brings great sensitivity to her fictionalized account of the remarkable young life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, the ‘African Princess’, who became a god-daughter to Queen Victoria. The internal struggles of Salimatu (Sarah) are movingly explored as she struggles to remain true to her identity as an African after being taken from her homeland and brought to England as a gift from ‘the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites.’ A comparable story is told of Salimatu’s sister Fatmata (Faith) who is transported to the United States before emancipation. Carefully constructed with a keen eye for historical accuracy, Domingo reveals a compas­sionate and affectionate Queen Victoria who is devoted to her African god-daughter. This is also an epic story of two sisters who are separated towards the end of the transatlantic slave trade, but never forget each other.” —Stephen Bourne author of War to Windrush and Evelyn Dove

“Anni Domingo’s Breaking the Maafa Chain is so rich in detail and dialogue; it is simply seductive. She captures so well, a little girl, Salimatu, who recalls the security of her family life, who is trans­ported to a bewildering future in England to become Sarah, where she has to stand strong and survive. Not only will this book be read for the sheer enjoyment of a beautifully written novel, but for the learning gained. It is a historical novel that cannot be ignored.” —Kadija Sesay literary activist and author of Irki

~~~~~

**About the Author**

Photo Content from Anni Domingo

Anni Domingo is an actress, director and writer. She is currently a lecturer in Drama and Directing at St. Mary's University in Twickenham and Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama. Anni's poems and short stories have been published in various anthologies and an extract from Breaking the Maafa Chain won the Myriad Editions First Novel competition and was featured in the New Daughters of Africa anthology edited by Margaret Busby.

Stay connected with Anni Domingo

      

~~~~~

*My Thoughts*

Note: This review contains NO spoilers

Although an incredibly evocative story of historical fiction, Breaking the Maafa Chain was based on the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta... As it is stated in the synopsis. Anni Domingo wrote a brilliant and emotional story of two sisters during the slave trade in history.

I'm not a big history buff, but Breaking the Maafa Chain drew me in to endure the journey of these two sisters with each turn of the page. My heart ached for them as they struggled to survive and not lose hope. Anni Domingo captured deep awareness and compassion for these sisters during slavery. Each sister going down their own paths in opposite directions, and yet, both persevering and never forgetting who they are.

I was completely engrossed into their story and in awe of the author's vivid details in her storytelling. I thoroughly was captivated by this riveting historical telling that I would love to see another book, or sequel, to the continuing lives of these sisters. I highly recommend Breaking the Maafa Chain since, in my opinion, this is a poignant telling of a part of history that would bring about all kinds of feelings.

My rating:

~~~~~

***The Giveaway***

 

Giveaway Open Internationally | Must be 13+ to Enter

- ends April 11, 2022

Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Organized by

BLOG TOUR: The Myth of Surrender by Kelly O'Connor McNees

 

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Award-winning Author Kelly O'Connor McNees's The Myth of Surrender. Today, on our tour stop, we have a review on this new release to share. There's even a tour-wide giveaway to share, too! So... Be sure to check it out and grab your copy now! Follow the tour, HERE.

Genre:

Young Adult

Historical Fiction

Publish Date:

March 1, 2022

Publisher:

Pegasus Books

Synopsis:

What if the most important decision of your life was not yours to make? This vivid and powerful novel follows two women whose paths intersect at a maternity home in the "Baby Scoop Era."

In 1960, free-spirited Doreen is a recent high-school grad and waitress in a Chicago diner. She doesn't know Margie, sixteen and bookish, who lives a sheltered suburban life, but they soon meet when unplanned pregnancies send them to the Holy Family Home for the Wayward in rural Illinois. Assigned as roommates because their due dates line up, Margie and Doreen navigate Holy Family’s culture of secrecy and shame and become fast friends as the weight of their coming decision — to keep or surrender their babies — becomes clear.

Except, they soon realize, the decision has already been made for them. Holy Family, like many of the maternity homes where 1.5 million women “relinquished” their babies in what is now known as the Baby Scoop Era, is not interested in what the birth mothers want. In its zeal to make the babies “legitimate” in closed adoptions, Holy Family manipulates and bullies birth mothers, often coercing them to sign away their parental rights while still under the effects of anesthesia.

What happens next, as their babies are born and they leave Holy Family behind, will force each woman to confront the depths and limits of motherhood and friendship, and fight to reclaim control over their own lives.

Written by the acclaimed author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott and Undiscovered Country, The Myth of Surrender explores a hidden chapter of American history that still reverberates across the lives of millions of women and their children.

       

    

   

~~~~~

Praise for The Myth of Surrender

“McNees has written a powerful, cinematic, and very beautiful novel about the miracles and catastrophes of motherhood. The women who inhabit this story are all so gloriously alive! Humane, compelling, sharp, and sensitive, The Myth of Surrender will stay with me for a very long time.” —Amy Dickinson, “Ask Amy” advice columnist, New York Times bestselling author of The Mighty Queens of Freeville

“A brave and important book. McNees’s literary acumen is on full display in this beautiful, deeply affecting novel. She explores what it meant to be unwed and pregnant in mid-century America with sensitivity, erudition, and first-rate storytelling. Impossible to put down, this is a spell-binding tale of deceit, abuse, and ultimately, reclamation.” ―Lori Nelson Spielman, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany

"Both an illumination of the past and an indictment of the present, The Myth of Surrender is McNees at her best—giving voice to women who could not speak for themselves.” —Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of THE WEIRD SISTERS and THE LIGHT IN PARIS

“A timely and powerful tale of motherhood, loss, and second chances. Kelly O’Connor McNees’s unforgettable novel illuminates an era that all too many people tried to forget. The scars are there—brava to McNees for also revealing the beauty.” —Siobhan Fallon, author of YOU KNOW WHEN THE MEN ARE GONE and THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES

~~~~~

**About the Author**

Photo Content from Kelly O'Connor McNees

Kelly O’Connor McNees’s award-winning novels transport readers to pivotal moments in history as seen through the eyes of the resilient, fascinating women who lived through them. Whether it’s a “moving and intimate glimpse” (Publisher’s Weekly) of Eleanor Roosevelt’s love affair with Lorena Hickock in Undiscovered Country, or the tough decisions of Clara, a mail-order bride broker, in In Need of a Good Wife, or Louisa May Alcott’s excruciating choice between love and her writing career in The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, readers are immersed in riveting stories often overlooked in American history.

O’Connor McNees’s forthcoming novel, The Myth of Surrender (March 2022, Pegasus), is the story of an unlikely friendship forged between two young women navigating the secrecy and shame of unwed pregnancy at a home for wayward girls, at the height of the Mad Men age.

In addition to her five novels, Kelly’s writing has appeared in The Millions, The Washington Post, The Toast, and in Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology. She has also written for The Boxcar Children series. Kelly is represented by Kate McKean of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. Born and raised in Michigan, she lives in Chicago with her family.

Stay connected with Kelly O’Connor McNees

      

~~~~~

*My Thoughts*

Note: This review contains NO spoilers

Wow! What a poignant and beautifully written story. This thought-provoking story takes readers on these young girls' emotional journey during a time in history that was kept hidden as a shameful secret. I found the story of these girls a painfully honest revelation of how little support and consideration people (during that era) put on the right to their own bodies for pregnant, unwed young women/girls; an issue that still is happening now, be it unwed and/or married.

So much happens in this compelling story for the two young girls (and others) while, at the same time, they are forced to grow up... FAST. It is a gut-wrenching journey for them. The Myth of Surrender takes readers on that emotional and psychological passage of growing up and pregnancy. Regardless of the circumstances, the treatment of these girls was heartbreaking and shameful.

The Myth of Surrender is a compelling and moving historical story that I could not put down. Kelly O'Connor McNees wrote an intriguing and touching story that is a definite must-read for any age.

My rating:

~~~~~

***The Giveaway***

 

Giveaway Open Internationally | Must be 13+ to Enter

- ends April 4, 2022 

Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Organized by