Cassava Republic signs historic novel set in Ghana

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf has acquired World English language rights to the forthcoming novel by Ghanaian author, Ayesha Harruna Attah, in a deal with Marina Penalva at Pontas Agency, who represents Attah worldwide. The novel, which is titled One Hundred Wells, tells the story of two strong female characters, whose lives intersect in a surprising way during the height of the slave trade at the end of the 19th century in West Africa. Cassava Republic will present the novel in 2017 across its imprints in Nigeria, the U.K. and North America.

Attah is the author of two novels, Harmattan Rain (published in 2009) and Saturday’s Shadows (published in 2010).

According to Founder and Director of Cassava Republic Press, Bakare-Yusuf, “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, inside-out 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.”

Agent at Pontas Literary & Film Agency, Penalva, says, “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.