Ayesha Harruna Attah - Books

Ayesha H. Attah
ayesha.attah@gmail.com
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ZAINAB TAKES NEW YORK

THWS CoverZainab Sekyi is on a quest to find herself.

She’s moving to New York City to pursue her lifelong dream to become an illustrator, but she doesn’t just want to get a job. She’s also on a mission to make enough money to go on a night out, buy a whole bottle of wine (not just a glass) and, most importantly of all, to fall in love.

But as she grows accustomed to the hustle and bustle of city life – with the help of her new roommate Mary Grace, and life-long friend, Densua – she begins to hear the voices of her ancestors in her mind. . .

Could understanding her family’s past hold the key to Zainab’s future?

Currently published in e-book & audiobook and will be released in paperback, April 2022 (Headline Accent), with a translation in Italian (Marcos y Marcos) forthcoming.

>> Order a copy: Amazon UK | Bookshop.org

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THE DEEP BLUE BETWEEN

THWS CoverA sudden, brutal slave raid tears twins Hassana and Vitoria apart, taking them far away from each other. Hassana goes to Accra, where she builds a new family and finds a place for herself in the political world; Vitoria goes to Salvador, Bahia where she lives and works with a Priestess, worshipping the gods of the motherland. But no matter the different obstacles and adventures they encounter, the sisters never forget one another. They remain bound together by their dreams, and slowly their fates begin to draw them back together.

Rich in historical detail, this epic, moving novel evokes a time of great change in West Africa, when slavery has been abolished but colonialism is taking hold, through the lives of two bold young women who are shaping their changing society.

Published in the UK by Pushkin Children's, in West Africa by Cassava Republic Press and in North America, by Lerner Books, it is translated into Brazilian Portuguese (Editora Globo), Catalan (Sembra Llibres), Dutch (Uitgeverij Orlando), German (Diana Verlag), and Italian (Marcos y Marcos).

The Deep Blue Between was shortlisted for The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, the Great Reads Award 2021, and is a White Ravens 2021.

>> Order a copy: Amazon UK | Bookshop.org | Carolrhoda Labs (US)

"A successful exploration of rich cultural experiences and familial connections" - Kirkus Reviews *

"A memorable, evocative tale of sisterhood and identity" - The Irish Times

"Attah is a master of character and storytelling, taking the reader deep into the complexities of separation and reunion." - The Scotsman
 

The Deep Blue Between BrazilThe Deep Blue Between DutchThe Deep Blue Between German EditionThe Deep Blue Between in Italian

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THE HUNDRED WELLS OF SALAGA

THWS CoverAminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father’s court. These two women’s lives converge as infighting among Wurche’s people threatens the region, during the height of the slave trade at the end of the 19th century.

Set in pre-colonial Ghana, The Hundred Wells of Salaga is a story of courage, forgiveness, love and freedom. It offers a remarkable view of slavery and how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people. It has been translated into Dutch (Uitgeverij Orlando), French (Gaïa Éditions), German (Diana Verlag), and Italian (Marcos y Marcos).

The Hundred Wells of Salaga is a finalist for the 2020 William Saroyan Prize and was longlisted for the Prix Les Afriques 2020.

>> Praise for The Hundred Wells of Salaga

>> Order a copy: Cassava Republic Press | Amazon UK | Other Press (US)
 

The Hundred Wells of SalagaThe Hundred Wells of Salaga DutchGerman EditionHundred Wells in ItalianTHWS French Cover

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SATURDAY'S SHADOWS

Saturday's ShadowsAfter a 17-year military dictatorship, the members of the middle class Avoka family lurch towards destruction as their country is trying to find its footing in the volatile world of 1990s West Africa. The father, Theo, is recruited to write the memoirs of the dictator-turned-president whom he both loathes and reveres. Zahra, matriarch of the Avoka household, rekindles an affair with an old lover. Theo and Zahra’s son Kojo has just started the boarding school of his dreams but finds out sometimes dreams should remain dreams. Their help, Atsu, a recent transplant from the village, struggles to understand big city living with all its temptations—money, men, and lust. The climate they live in is politically complex, a time so tenuous the country could easily dip back into its military past.

This multi-voiced novel not only paints a picture of these tumultuous changes, but also shows that tenderness can persist even when everything else is being rent apart.

>> Order a copy of Saturday's Shadows

>> Read an excerpt


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HARMATTAN RAIN

Attah pic


Harmattan Rain follows three generations of women as they cope with family, love and life. A few years before Ghana’s independence, Lizzie-Achiaa’s lover disappears. Intent on finding him, she runs away from home. Akua Afriyie, Lizzie-Achiaa’s first daughter, strikes out on her own as a single parent in a country rocked by successive coups. Her daughter, Sugri grows up overprotected. She leaves home for university in New York, where she learns that sometimes one can have too much freedom. In the end, the secrets parents keep from their children eventually catch up with them.

Harmattan Rain was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Africa Region.

>>Order a copy: On Amazon | On iBooks

>>Read or listen to excerpts from Harmattan Rain
 

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