Slave Shipwreck Saga by Michael Smorenburg
The
Praying Nun
Slave
Shipwreck Saga Book 1
by
Michael Smorenburg
Genre:
Historical Thriller
An
uncharted shipwreck, the mysteries she hides, and the brutalized
souls who suffered her holds.
In
1985 two divers discovered an ancient uncharted shipwreck off South
Africa's Cape of Storms. Salvaging the wreck only inflames the enigma
with the trail of secrets compounding and the wreck refusing to yield
her identity. Countless vessels, some crammed with bullion, have
joined this ship graveyard over the centuries, but what sort of
galleon was this, leaving only cannon, cannon balls and scant few
clues behind? Three decades pass before the Smithsonian of Washington
solves the riddle.
It's
1794 on the fevered coast of Mozambique. Chikunda and his wife Mkiwa,
stripped naked and shackled, are heaved aboard the São José de
Africa. Only a miracle may save them from the horrors below deck
where more than 400 fellow slaves are crammed. But nobody can guess
what fate has in store.
If
you're a Wilbur Smith or Clive Cussler fan, you will be riveted by
this fact-inspired fictionalized tale by Michael Smorenburg, based as
it is by personal experience, extensive research and the legacy of
artifacts salvaged from the São José de Africa. Pick it up now to
go on the adventure of a lifetime.
The
Reckoning
Slave
Shipwreck Saga Book 2
A
slave evades re-capture after his slave ship is wrecked at the
treacherous Cape of Good Hope, only to face handing himself over when
his wife goes missing with the man who rescued them. A tale of hope,
fear and most of all, the yearning for freedom.
It's
1794 and the slave trade is at its ugly peak. When the Portuguese
slave ship Sao
Jose Paquete de Africa shipwrecks
at the Cape of Good Hope, only two hundred of the four hundred slaves
aboard survive.
Chikunda
and his pregnant wife evade re-capture only to face the impassable
cliffs of Table Mountain. With the wild South Atlantic at their
backs, Cape Town's gallows and whipping post to the north, the
British garrison blocking escape to the south, and dangers of an
untamed African coast to the east of a vast mountain range, escape
seems impossible.
When
Chikunda's wife goes missing, he has a monumental choice to make.
Pick up The Reckoning now and lose yourself in a world you never
could have imagined, a world where freedom slips ever more out of a
man's grasp.
Michael
Smorenburg (b. 1964) grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. An
entrepreneur with a passion for marketing, in 1995 Michael moved to
California where he founded a business consultancy and online media
and marketing engine in the burgeoning internet. In 2003 he returned
to South Africa where he launched a security company. In 2015 he
divested of the business to write full time. Michael's greatest love
is the ocean, keeping up with the latest breakthroughs in science,
understanding the cosmos and sharing all he learns.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
I like the cover. It’s very mysterious. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the input.
DeleteAnything shipwreck gets me hooked!
ReplyDeleteAnd... it's a true story. I was the second person to dive this 1794 wreck. Back then we didn't know what it was - but it proved to be the only slave ship in history ever to be found.
DeleteSo much to see in the cover - great job
ReplyDeleteTruly. A wonderful cover artist. Thank you.
DeleteThank you for the comments already.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to amplify that this is a true story.
Indeed, although this novella is in two parts - an adventure story set in the 1980s and, surprisingly, a love story (!) set in 1794, the underpinnings of it are all too real.
This is t
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SWlZyL92fY&fbclid=IwAR3zQdjnPcmVagdKzmlg9zE30NOeN2ojny01sOwfUuUpPGAnGVb8wqIISG4
Pause a moment to remember the 200 slaves who died in the wrecking of the ship (covered in "The Praying Nun") and the 200 survivors who were sold the next day to defray costs (covered in "The Reckoning").
And feel free to follow this unfolding story:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Praying-Nun-A-True-Story-Slave-Shipwreck-Saga-354022098304929/
The Praying Nun has the best cover of the two.
ReplyDeleteI like the covers. They promise an engrossing and exciting read.
ReplyDeleteI love the ship on the cover
ReplyDeleteI love the cover art.
ReplyDeleteIt shows... covers are very important. Thank you everyone for your positive input. If you have any questions about the stories or about the real 1794 shipwreck drama that lies at the base of this story (and the 200 of 400 slaves that survived the wreck only to be re-sold the next day to defray expedition costs!!!), I'm happy to share all I know.
ReplyDeleteThe Praying Nun sounds very interesting and one wonders what happened to the people that were on board the wrecked ship. Vivian Furbay jtandviv (at) q (dot) com
ReplyDeleteHello Vivian
DeleteThis was a Portuguese ship attempting to open up a new slave trade out of Mozambique and into Brazil.
The captain knew he was getting close to the settlement at Cape Town, but didn't know the coast. Fearful, he cut in too close and got caught by a storm and driven onto a reef (I actually live not 100m from the site of the wreck). Indeed, I look down onto it from my home.
Of the 400+ on board, 200 slaves were brought ashore. The brutality is unimaginable... They were marched over a mountain pass and into the Dutch/British colony and sold the next day.
Cape slavery is a very interesting study. There were no plantations here so most slaves were used as craftsmen and as helpers in the home. Under the Dutch East India Company (VOC) slaves actually had quite a few more rights than on the plantations of the New World (not that you'd want to be a slave even under that more lenient regime). Also, living and working cheek by jowl with slaves would tend to soften people to their plight... but, again, abuse and the disgrace of the system notwithstanding.
Another oddity is that very few Africans were used as slaves at the Cape. Mostly they were from Malaysia and Madagascar which suited the kind of craftsman and cooking work that the settlers here sought. Also, an African slave would more likely attempt to run away and head for home (as impossible as that practically was).
That said, the 'windfall' of 200 new slaves on the block certainly was grasped and those 200 were absorbed into the local bloodlines.
In my second novel in this series (The Reckoning) I follow the life of one of these imagined slaves. In my third title of the series my protagonist is the (fictitious) newly arrived wife of the British governor at the Cape... who is horrified to confront a slave society in the flesh. So much has opened up to write about in my research.
These covers are great looking. I like the The Reckoning
ReplyDeleteSlave Shipwreck Saga Book 2 cover the best