"Spellbinding...A captivating debut." --Harper's Bazaar
In this stirring and lyrical debut novel--perfect for fans of The
Water Dancer and the Legacy of Orïsha series--the Yoruba deity of the
sea, Yemaya, is brought to vivid life as she discovers the power of
Black resilience, love, and feminine strength in antebellum America.**
Shallow Waters imagines Yemaya, an Orïsha--a deity in the religion
of Africa's Yoruba people--cast into mid-1800s America. We meet Yemaya
as a young woman, still in the care of her mother and not yet fully
aware of the spectacular power she possesses to protect herself and
those she holds dear.
The journey laid out in Shallow Waters sees Yemaya confront the
greatest evils of this era; transcend time and place in search of
Obatala, a man who sacrifices his own freedom for the chance at hers;
and grow into the powerful woman she was destined to become. We travel
alongside Yemaya from her native Africa and on to the "New World," with
vivid pictures of life for those left on the outskirts of power in the
nascent Americas.
Yemaya realizes the fighter within, travels the Underground Railroad in
search of the mysterious stranger Obatala, and crosses paths with icons
of our history on the road to freedom. Shallow Waters is a nourishing
work of ritual storytelling from promising debut author Anita Kopacz.
