Barbara Ellis

The hero of the Akan people of West Africa and our hero, Anancy, takes us on a journey through time and history. He reveals the heroic achievements of his people, and guides us through the traumas that were inflicted on his motherland by the European Invaders, from the 15th century onwards.

Anancy takes us back to December 1492, when the three galleons commanded by Christopher Columbus ran aground on the rocky shoreline of Ayiti (Haiti). The event was to have dire consequences for the inhabitants of the island – the Taino people – and later the African continent.

The enslavement and near extinction of the Taino people, through mining gold, silver and pearls for the Spanish invaders, created the demand for another source of free labour. Anancy is at the heart of the resistance to the enslavement of the local Taino people and the Africans in the ‘Recently Enslaved World’.

Anancy uses his dual personality – as a man and a spider – to resist and torment the slave masters, while inspiring and supporting his brothers and sisters to end their enslavement. He plays a central role in their resistance and ultimate liberation from the cane pieces throughout the islands of the Caribbean and on the mainland of South America.

• 216 x 138 mm
• 260 pages
• Paperback