Black China, a 70,000-word historical fiction novel set in the heart of China’s "Little Africa” in the 2000s, is a work about the secret lives of Black women living in contemporary China.
I am currently seeking representation for the publication of this novel.
With the ongoing global reckonings with racial inequity and the new era China is entering, this novel is timely and relevant. Also, much like Bennett’s The Mothers, this book also combats the erasure of Black women’s narratives and elevates their experiences with race, religion, and romance out of the shadows and into the global conversation. And unlike the academic texts on the global phenomenon of China-Africa relations, it centers the experiences of Africans and the difficulties of navigating a relationship with an emerging superpower. These two themes situate this work at the intersection of critical debates on Africa’s growing relationship with China and its global conversations on racial equity.
I am currently seeking representation for this novel. For agents, the manuscript is available, in part or full, upon request.
Most Americans might think that America is truly the only land where dreams can come true. But for many Africans, China is that land of opportunity- a place with a burgeoning middle class, growing economic opportunity, and the chance of a lifetime to achieve their dreams. Through the lives of three Black African women—Ife, Annie, and Aminata— this novel shadows their migration journey to China to pursue these very dreams. Black China is rooted in the city of Guangzhou. It is the Chinese mecca of big dreams that is teeming with university scholarships, abundant entrepreneurship opportunities, and the chance to get rich. Ife, Annie, and Aminata are out to get their fair share. However, unforeseen troubles arise for the women in their promised land- and they soon find that they are faced with two equally likely options- live the dream or die trying.
The work is the first historical fiction manuscript about Black African communities in contemporary China. Years of field research inform this work of realistic fiction, including 36 months living, working, and learning from, this community of Africans in China as a Fulbright Scholar in Guangzhou, a humanitatian worker at UNDP Beijing, a cultural envoy working with the National Theater of China, and an exchange student at Beijing University.