Tracing Ja Ja

Based on the life of accomplished merchant prince King Ja Ja of Opobo, Anthony Kellman has created a richly imaginative and warmly human work of historical fiction. Weaving between the official records and the satirical and cynical traditions of the “tuk” song, Tracing Ja Ja traces the emerging love between an ailing African king in exile and his Barbadian servant Becka. When Jubo Jubogba began life as a trader’s slave, paddling the great house’s canoes, no one could’ve predicted his meteoric ascent to become Ja Ja of Opobo, a sage merchant king of the Niger’s rich river delta. Kellman’s psychological insight crosses ages and cultures, with a poet’s perception of the beauties of his island’s flora and fauna.