The Secret of the Purple Lake
by Yaba Badoe, illustrated by Gbolahan Adams
Interest age: 7 to 11
Reading age: 8+
Published by Cassava Republic, 2017
About this book
Once, on the shores of Ghana, there lived a fisherman and his loving wife and daughter. One day, the fisherman set out to sea, but never came back. The fate of his daughter, brave Ajuba, was to set out on a magical, terrifying journey and bring his bones home. But that is only the beginning of a set of stories that takes the reader from the warm south to the deep north of the world.
On the way, the reader will meet a host of enchanting and powerful characters, including Romilly, the betrayed, tragic queen-eagle, and her three wild daughters: the princesses of Orkney. We discover the fate of Ajuba herself, and learn the story of the fish-man, who was not always a man with the head of a fish…
This collection of interlinked folk tales has a truly global feel, with stories reaching from Africa to the Orkney Islands, by way of Spain and Norway. Metamorphoses abound, with strong, bold princesses and kind, loving princes transformed into birds, walruses and spirits of the sea.
About the author
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