Cassava Republic to publish Attah’s historical fiction novel
A London-based publisher of African fiction, Cassava Republic Press, has acquired the world rights for the forthcoming novel by Ghanaian author, Ayesha Harruna Attah.
The deal struck by Cassava Republic’s director, Bibi BakareYusuf and Marina Penalva of Pontas Agency, which represents Attah worldwide will see Attah’s novel provisionally titled ‘One Hundred Wells’ published in 2017 in Nigeria, UK and North America.
The historical fiction novel is the story of the struggles in women’s lives in Ghana in the late 19th century during the scramble for Africa. It also offers a remarkable view of slavery within Africa, centering around two strong and memorable female characters whose lives intersect in a surprising way.
Aminah lives an idyllic life in the village of Botu, until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that will turn her from a daydreaming girl into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father’s court, but ends up living the opposite of her dream. These two women’s lives converge at the same time infighting among Wurche’s people threatens to leave the region exposed to powers much larger than themselves.
According to the Pontas Agency website, ‘One Hundred Wells’ is a mesmerizing story of courage, forgiveness, love and freedom and establishes Attah as one of the most appealing voices to emerge in African fiction.
Commenting on the acquisition, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf said, “There is a huge lack of historical fiction from across the African continent and imaginative reconstructions of events such as ‘One Hundred Wells’ are sorely needed. The novel allows us to see the disruptive events of colonialism and the trans-atlantic slave trade from a personal, insideout perspective. It helps to understand the turmoil in people’s lives, to have insights into the relations between different ethnic groups in pre-colonial/ colonial Ghana, and from a more personal perspective, understand social relations, desire and intimacy in a 19th century West African context. It brings a different time and place alive like the best historical fiction does.”
Also commenting on the deal, Marina Penalva said, “We are thrilled with this new deal for Ayesha, which seems like the perfect match for her in this new step in her literary career. We have worked with Bibi and the Cassava team in the past when they acquired the rights to ‘The Fishermen’ by Chigozie Obioma and their editorial vision, energy and ambition have impressed us greatly. We are confident that Ayesha’s new novel is in the best possible hands and we can’t wait to share it with publishers around the world when the manuscript is ready next year.”
Harruna Attah grew up in Accra, Ghana but moved to Massachusetts and studied Biochemistry at Mount Holyoke College and then Columbia University. She received an MFA in Creative Writing at New York University. In 2009, with a fellowship from Per Ankh Publishers and TrustAfrica, she published her first novel, ‘Harmattan Rain’, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 2010. Her second novel, ‘Saturday’s Shadows’, was published in English (World Editions) and Dutch (De Geus) in 2015. She currently lives in Senegal.
Her work has been praised by literary stalwarts like Ama Ata Aidoo who said on the BBC World Service, “Who says that there are no good authors coming from Ghana? Shut up! Have you read Ayesha Harruna Attah?” No fees were mentioned for the acquisition.