NO ONE WILL SAVE US

Against the backdrop of the war between Africa’s Queendom of Kana and Portugal, Brown’s historical novel follows women warriors as they fight to free slaves from Jamestown in 1619.

Princess Chibuike (“Chi”) is 10 years old and preparing to serve the Queendom of Kana—the land of women warriors—which comprises 10 African villages found in the mountains of the northwest, the sandstone of the northeast, and the forest of the south. One day, exploring the local forest, she is terrified by a pale man urinating in the woods (“my heart was beating as fast as a cheetah on the trail of an antelope”).  Years pass and Chi comes of age; she meets Efe and Fatimata, who are preparing to lead the Banaan and Asanti tribes, following their royal mothers. Shortly thereafter, the Banaan and Asanti people vanish, with Fatimata and her family among the missing. Chi and her warriors set out on a journey to discover that the Portuguese have captured Banaan and Asanti people and brought them to Jamestown, Virginia, where they were traded for money or goods such as sugar, rum, and molasses. After being sold, they were baptized, given Christian names, and expected to worship a male God while serving their white masters as their property.  Chi and her warriors battle the Portuguese, attack a slave ship, and aim to overthrow the governor, Sir George Yeardley, who has permitted the enslavement of the native people, multiple massacres, and the British overtaking of Indigenous lands. In this tragic narrative, Brown vividly illustrates how enslaved people were robbed of their personal identities.  She also explores issues of hierarchy and privilege while conveying the needs and desires of Efe, Fatimata, and Chi as they develop relationships and come of age. While the story is action-packed, historically accurate, and engaging, there are passages in which the gore becomes excessive and times when the story feels overextended, as if the author is struggling to wrap up too many details. Still, this novel serves as a fascinating yet horrifying account of a dark time in European history while centering the agency of women in dynamic roles.

A poignant fictionalized account of the early slave trade.