Historical Fiction Review

Lavina: The Saga of an African Princess
by Author Wright
ISBN-10: 1598860062
Review by Heather Froeschl

American history is not a pretty thing but it is something that needs to be looked at, again and again in order to gain understanding. Our economy was built on the backs of indentured servants and slaves, pounding them into the building blocks of our foundation. Slaves were ripped from their homes, families and lives and used for the labor to develop our new world. It isn't often that we are able to look back and learn the true story of such people. In Author O. Wright's novel "Lavina: The Saga of an African Princess" readers are invited to become enlightened of the truth of those harsh times and enticed to look into the eyes of those who were treated so inhumanely.

Lavina is an eighteen-year-old princess of the Bonga tribe of Guinea and is about to be inaugurated; Rabboni is a prince of the Zazunta tribe. The two love each other deeply and are about to tell their parents of their plans to wed when slave traders invade the marketplace where the tribes have come together. Hundreds are captured and brought aboard the slave ship while many more lay dying. Which is a better fate? Rabboni and Lavina are both aboard the ship and are headed to Virginia and a completely different life than what they were certain they were destined for. They pray to the Almighty Protector for help.

A plantation owner buys Rabboni and his treatment is harsh to say the least. Lavina is purchased by kind puritans and is treated like their daughter. Two very different outcomes but the result of their public treatment will eventually be the same. Prejudice, by the very people who needed the labor in the first place, runs rampant. Will the two soul mates ever find each other in the ever growing towns of Jamestown and Williamsburg? Will they ever be free to love each other as man and wife?

Told in the third person the story is relayed with respect, historical accuracy, and contempt for the wrongs that were committed. It reads well, though at times there is repetition of fact and plotline that isn't necessary. This minor detail does little to detract from a well written tale that will captivate readers and shed some light on the realities of our nation's history. The romantic side of the book will appeal to men and women alike while the historical feel will be of interest to every American, or should be. The book has a Christian slant that fits right into the times and explains how the Guinea belief of the Almighty Protector is converted to that of Jesus Christ.

I recommend "Lavina" to every reader, especially those who are studying American culture and history.