Copper Sun

Copper Sun is a historical fiction novel about fifteen-year-old Amari, a young woman from Ziavi, Ghana. Amari loves her community (the Ewe people), her family, and her soon-to-be husband, Besa. One day, unannounced, a group of pale-faced strangers arrive, led there by a neighbouring tribe, the Ashanti. Amari’s people prepare a celebration to welcome the guests, not knowing the grave danger they will soon face. After a meal, gift exchange, storytelling, and dancing, the white men open fire on the community. Amari watches as her parents are murdered. She runs into the jungle with her little brother, Kwasi, but he is speared and killed. She is then shackled and chained to fellow surviving villagers.

The next day begins a brutal, deathly march to Cape Coast where the prisoners cannot eat, drink or rest. People die every day on the walk and are merely left on the side of the path. Once the Africans and their captors reach Cape Coast, the slaves are locked in a large building. Here is where Amari meets Afi; Afi becomes a motherly mentor to Amari during the harrowing journey across the ocean. While at Cape Coast, the women are humiliated, inspected by strangers, and branded like cattle.