Set in the Netherlands in the 1640s, Astraea tells of the relationship between two royal exiles, Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of James I, and Omoloju/Pelagius, erstwhile heir to the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo, now a freed slave with shamanic gifts. They meet, fall in love, and marry clandestinely. Secretly, Elizabeth gives birth to a bay Balthasar Stuart, whom both come to see as a hope for a new age. As ever with Stevenson's work, Astraea appeals to both the head and the heart. An utterly convincing picture of seventeenth-century life and politics, it is also an immensely moving account of a strange, magical love affair.
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About the Author:
Jane Stevenson is the author of Several Deceptions, a collection of four novellas, and a novel, London Bridges. She is Reader in English at the University of Aberdeen.
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- PublisherVINTAGE BOOKS @
- Publication date2002
- ISBN 10 0099286645
- ISBN 13 9780099286646
- BindingPaperback
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