Fifteen-year-old Imani sits deep in the belly of a ship named Africa. Her fellow travellers include Ngungunyane, emperor of a pre-colonial African kingdom, and his seven wives. It is 1895 and Mozambique’s colonial rulers are shipping them off to Portugal, and from there to permanent exile in the Azores.
The journey is arduous and full of intrigue, drama and despair. As the designated translator between captors and captives, Imani, who speaks perfect Portuguese (and whose own belly is carrying the child of a Portuguese sergeant) holds a pivotal position on board, but as a result is not fully trusted by anyone. Her pregnancy gives her some protection from the leering advances of the crew, and she finds some support from the queens, but her journey is ultimately fraught and lonely.
