Moore, Wayetu

She Would Be King

ISBN: 9781555978174
Minneapolis, MN: Graywolf Press, 2018. First Edition. Hardcover in Slipcase. Signed by Wayetu Moore. "In the West African village of Lai, red-haired Gbessa is cursed at birth and exiled on suspicion of being a witch. Bitten by a viper and left for dead, she nevertheless survives. On a plantation in Virginia, June Dey hides his unusual strength until a confrontation with the overseer forces him to flee. And in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, Norman Aragon, the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave, can fade from sight at will, just as his mother could. Gbessa, misunderstood by her own people, finds a new life with a group of African American settlers in the colony of Monrovia. When she meets (Dey) and (Aragon), it isn't long before they realize that they are all cursed- or, perhaps, uniquely gifted. Together they protect the weak and vulnerable, but only Gbessa can salvage the tense relationship between the settlers and the indigenous tribes. The all-seeing spirit of the wind weaves together their extraordinary stories. "If she was not a woman," the wind says of Gbessa, "she would be King." " (from front flap) The acclaimed debut novel by Wayetu Moore (b. 1985), the Liberian-American author & noted actvist-entrepreneur. Hailed as a classic-in-the-making of the magical realism genre, She Would Be King was critically very well-received & has been a most popular best-seller. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition, second printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. On blank leaf between front endpaper & shorter title page, Moore has hand-written her signature in black ink. Housed in a handsome slipcase. A beautiful production; a rare & collectible version of this contemporary masterpiece. Book in very fine condition, substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only a touch of rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine. Slipcase very fine with only a bit of rubbing, faint scratching to outer surfaces. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5502]

Price: $45.00