Yeseni and the Daughter of Peace: Unbound Firsts 2023 Title Solange Burrell 9781800182219

'Powerful' Irenosen Okojie, author of Butterfly Fish

The year is 1748. Elewa, known as 'the Daughter of Peace', bears a heavy responsibility on her young shoulders: to maintain the fragile truce between the warring peoples of her West African kingdom.

But as she begins to understand her role in the peace negotiations, even greater pressures emerge. Elewa discovers that she has Yeseni, a powerful gift that allows her to see events from any point in time, and to travel into the past and future.

When she experiences horrific visions of life aboard a slave ship, she realises she has to face the ultimate crossroads. She could use her gift to intervene in the past and try to prevent the transatlantic slave trade ever taking place. But that means she, as the Daughter of Peace, would be leaving her village behind at a precarious moment in the reconciliation process.

Whichever path she chooses to take, the future of her people lies on her shoulders.

Solange Burrell grew up in Bristol and then moved to London to study journalism at university. She has worked in HR and as a building surveyor. She currently lives in Canada with her husband, and Yeseni and the Daughter of Peace is her first novel.

• 'Elewa is a character that I loved from the beginning . . . I loved to see her grow through this story, challenging the imposed rules . . . I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it's a story I'd read again. I can't wait what will Solange delight us with next' @journalabook

• 'So powerful and inspiring and really delved into the history of the slave trade . . . Elewa is such a queen of a character . . . I would definitely read this again' @mehrinreads

• 'I loved hearing about the tribe's history and traditions and that belief in the supernatural leads on to the storyline focussing on the yeseni, power to see and travel to events past and future. I loved Elewa right from the start. A great character full of wonder and so inquisitive and I think this is what endears us to her quest too. A really thought-provoking read' @book_a_holic_17

• 'A book of beauty and strength. This is such a touching and powerful read . . . It was such a strong read, with a lot of detail and very emotional, strong feelings throughout, that all gave you a real thinking point and something to come back to and anchor on, as you got to know her and her tribe. I really enjoyed this read and found it very engaging' @naturalbri_books

• 'I feel like words can't justify how much I loved this book. The writing felt so authentic and every sentence felt like it came from the heart. This was a story of liberation and empowerment that was truly meaningful and didn't just feel like a 'story'. Although it is fiction, I feel like I learnt so much - particularly about the slave trade and colonialism' @tinkerbellslibrary