The Royal Diaries series takes the famous and sometimes not so famous queens of the past and dive into their childhoods to make a firsthand and sometimes fictional account of their life and times.
Author Edwidge Danticat takes the reader into jungles of Haiti to put them face to face with a very practical and mature princess in Anacaona: Golden Flower (2005). Anacaona and her brother are raised by their uncle, who is the current ruler and he teaches his niece and nephew everything they need to know for their future. However Anacaona gives up her birthright when she marries Caonabo.
She loves her husband very much and does rule his homeland along side him. Their way of life is threaten when “pale men” reach their shores. Then is struggling to survive in their own world that is being invaded by other world.
Danticat creates a rich and exotic story that not only focuses on the characters, but also on nature and the surroundings. It is a very different story and feel from the rest of the Royal Diaries books.
A historical note is at the end of each Royal Diary book, with a family tree, portraits of the princess and close family members and information about her life after the book ends. Anacaona and Caonabo had one daughter together. Their lives were cut short while fighting for their way of life. Caonabo was captured by the Spanish in 1493 and died on a prison ship. Anacaona was also captured by the Spanish, she was hung at the age of twenty nine. The fate of their daughter is unknown.
Anacaona: Golden Flower can be found in your local library, the website for the Bergen County Cooperative Library system can be found here
Anacaona: Golden Flower is the second installment in Royal month.
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