âA true artist. A brilliant writer. An original thinker.ââChimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A captivating, fictionalized retelling of African linguist and clergyman Samuel Ajayi Crowther's miraculous journey from slave to liberator.
âRun, ĂjĂ yĂ, run!â
When Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of ĂsogĂčn, thirteen-year-old ĂjĂ yĂ's life is split in two.
Before, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient YorĂčbĂĄ gods of forest and water, earth and sky.
After, there was capture, slaveryâand eventually releaseâwith ĂjĂ yĂ, left transfigured, unrecognizable, and now, inthe service of a new god, with a new name and a culture different from the one left far behind. ĂjĂ yĂ becomes Samuel Crowtherâmissionary, linguist, minister, and eventually abolitionist, driven to negotiate against his own people to end the evil trade in human beings which destroyed his family and transformed his own life.
Drawing on the prolific writings of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, novelist and filmmaker Biyi BĂĄndĂ©lĂ© creates a many-voiced, kaleidoscopic portrait of an extraordinary man. From the heart-stopping drama of ĂjĂ yĂ's last day of freedom to the farcical intrigue of the ĂsogĂčn court; from a meeting with Queen Victoria to consecration as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church, Samuel Ajayi Crowtherâs journey, like all great odysseys, circles back to where he began. By turns witty, moving and revolutionary, Biyi BĂĄndĂ©lĂ©'s reimagining of Crowther's life is a brilliant tour de force.