Island Queen (#1,004) by Vanessa Riley is a big novel based on the real-life Dorothy Kirwan Thomas. Born in slavery on Monserrat, she survived slave revolts, insurrections, rape and economic oppression, yet she managed along the way to birth ten children, free herself and most of the members of her family, become mistress to a future British king and one of the wealthiest and most influential women of the Caribbean, as well as a slave holder herself. It's a fascinating tale that will make you wonder why you've never heard of this amazing woman before.
Dolly, as she is known, loves not wisely, but too well over the course of her long life. Four principal relationships set the course of her life for good and ill. The drive to earn enough money to be able to control her own life and those of her children make her a runaway slave on the island of Dominica. She settles in there to amass her first fortune. When she catches the eye of Captain William Henry at a mulatto ball there, her ambition and restlessness move her on to cross the sea with a son of King George. Learning the ways of British society will become an essential asset in setting fashions and influencing politics in the colonies.
Loss also plays a key role in Dolly's story. She looses relatives and relationships, but she carries on, never alone. It's an inspiring story and told here in riveting prose. Ms. Riley's original inspiration to tell Dorothy Kirwan Thomas' story? Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon. The character of Miss Lambe, the wealthy mulatto island heiress, made her wonder if such people really existed. She found Dolly.
Cover art always interests me. Here, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the hat Dolly describes in the book near the end as her favorite is captured accurately on the cover. Dolly does so love her hats! Highly recommended.
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