num_pages: 312
description: A novel of exhilarating range magical realism and historya dazzling retelling of Liberias formation.Waytu Moores powerful debut novel She Would Be King reimagines the dramatic story of Liberias early years through three unforgettable characters who share an uncommon bond. Gbessa exiled from the West African village of Lai is starved bitten by a viper and left for dead but still she survives. June Dey raised on a plantation in Virginia hides his unusual strength until a confrontation with the overseer forces him to flee. Norman Aragon the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave from Jamaica can fade from sight when the earth calls him. When the three meet in the settlement of Monrovia their gifts help them salvage the tense relationship between the African American settlers and the indigenous tribes as a new nation forms around them.Moores intermingling of history and magical realism finds voice not just in these three characters but also in the fleeting spirit of the wind who embodies an ancient wisdom. If she was not a woman the wind says of Gbessa she would be king. In this vibrant story of the African diaspora Moore a talented storyteller and a daring writer illuminates with radiant and exacting prose the tumultuous roots of a country inextricably bound to the United States. She Would Be King is a novel of profound depth set against a vast canvas and a transcendent debut from a major new author.
language: English
title: She Would Be King
publisher: Graywolf Press