|
 It
is late 17th-century
Jamaica
. A slave family has found a way to escape the sugar plantation.
Aiming to begin a new life in the forest, the intense pace is set
for this historic novel involving the coldly calculated slave trade.
As history goes, white
business men like Geoffrey Pett, a
tradesman accountant, want all the Africans they can attain for
financial gain. Pett and the slave
trades’ business progression are evidenced in comments like
“they will mate and multiply at an optimum rate.” Becoming a
shrewd businessman allows Pett a
position as farm administrator, lording over hundreds of slaves.
Using the position to satiate personal and monetary greed, he
schemes up a brutal plan to pillage and seize escaped slaves –
After all, a surplus of slaves means more manpower and money.
An additional sampling
of plot potency is unveiled in clever escapees like The Priest, a
black man who has made ends meet as a La Goree,
Africa
bartender. The Priest is in-love with strong-minded Raissa,
personal slave to Djallo “the famous
African dealer.” The Priest secretly promises Raissa
his return then helps two other blacks escape with him by stealing /
pirating a boat. In the meanwhile an impatient Raissa
uses her manipulative prowess to convince Djallo
to let her take control of Seku, Djallo’s
enemy (while plotting to free herself).
This
book poignantly covers two sides of the slave-trade coin: business
versus slave empowerment. Inspiration derives from the determined
strife of Africans who learned brave new ways of fighting
enslavement.
~
Review by Sara Webb Quest
To
order Jamaica
Blood or learn about its author, please click http://www.dorrancebookstore.com/jamaicablood.html
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