Brave Music of a Distant Drum: Sequel to the prize-winning novel, Ama, a Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade - Softcover

Manu Herbstein grew up in South Africa in the time of apartheid. After taking a degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town, he left South Africa in 1959. He was twenty-three. He stayed away for thirty-three years, living and working in England and Scotland, India, Nigeria, and Zambia. He first worked in Ghana in 1961 and has lived there since 1970. He is a citizen of both Ghana and South Africa. Nowadays he visits his home town, Cape Town, at least once a year.

Manu Herbstein’s novel, Ama, a Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Best First Book. The novel’s companion website, http://www.ama.africatoday.com, won an Award for Innovative Use of New Media at the 2003 Highway Africa conference in South Africa. Brave Music of a Distant Drum won an honorable mention in the 2010 Burt Award for Ghana, founded and funded by the Canadian philanthropist Bill Burt and administered by the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE), through the Ghana Book Trust.

"In the early 19th century, Zacharias is introduced to his mother in Portuguese Brazil. The two have not met for many years because they are both enslaved, held separate by different masters. At first Zacharias is repelled by Ama. She is old and blind, ugly to his eyes, and she calls him by an un-Christian name, Kwame Zumbi. Zacharias, a clerk for the United Kingdom consul, wonders whether she can actually be his mother. "Only after Ama asks him to write down her life does Zacharias begin to understand. Ama was stolen from her African village as a young woman and has been passed from one master to another. She has been raped, lashed, had one eye torn out, and has been treated kindly and promised her freedom only to see it denied. Ama has loved two men and seen both of them brutally slain, and she has had her infant son taken from her arms. In short, Ama's life echoes the experience of at least twenty million Africans who were forced into slavery. "Brave Music is intended for readers 16 and over. This book is not a pleasant read, but it is a horrific and compelling message from all of our pasts which must not be forgotten." The Historical Novels Review "With the huge cast and constantly switching viewpoints, along with the details of horrifying brutality, this will be best for older teens, who will get the bitter irony of the Christian conversion of the heathens: what does salvation mean for slaves?" Booklist, American Library Association. "This is a powerful and thought-provoking novel, which offers remarkable insights into one of the darkest chapters in human history. South African author Manu Herbstein was awarded the 2002 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, and in Brave Music of a Distant Drum, Herbstein re-imagines Ama's story for a younger, North American audience." Recommended: Four stars out of four. Reviewer: Linda Quirk, Assistant Special Collections Librarian at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta. "Gr 9 Up-This novel portrays the difficult and heroic life of a slave from her capture in Africa to her horrifying journey across the Atlantic and her life on a European plantation in Brazil. An insightful and, at times, heartbreaking read."--Rita Soltan, Youth Services Consultant, West Bloomfield, MI School Library Journal, "Good, even great at times, generally useful! This book tells a terrible story, and the fact that the story is told by a mother to her son simply makes it more terrible... an important story, one that we would all do well to know more about." Margaret Mackey, Resource Links