LitPick Review
This book is mainly about a girl named Anacoana who is inline to be the next ruler of Xaragua with her brother. She goes through childhood, and becomes a young adult. From there on, she falls in love and gets married. As she is settled down as a wife and has a child, strange men with white skin visits one of her neighboring tribes and terrorizes the ruler. Anacoana's husband kills the White men but fear of the White men was still there. Anacoana hopes that when her daughter grows up, the threat of the White men will be gone.
Opinion:
The book was very informative of what life back then on Haiti was like and the feel of the threat of the White men. Although the book was not a major page-turner, I felt like I had to go on to find out what happened to Anacoana. Knowing her thoughts and opinions from her diary gave me a good sense that she was a very caring and wise person so I cared what happened to her. The characters were very interesting such as Anacoana's husband, Caonabo, who had an avid interest in exotic birds. Plus, the confusion and terror coupled with the arrival of the White men and their guns was expressed very clearly. Anacoana did not have anything very offensive and would be a pretty good book for anyone who cares to learn history while having fun reading.
