The Fortunes of Blues and Blessings (Paperback, 2nd ed.)

From the beginning, as written in Genesis 8:22, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." Described by many as the two faces of fortune, it is the blues and our blessings, one causing much heartbreak and the other providing immense joy. The Fortunes of Blues and Blessing is a historical American saga telling the story of a black family in America beginning in 1849 that spans more than 100 years and five generations. The family tree takes root in Sierra Leone with the capture of a young African named Zokaya, he's carried across the waters and sold as slave in Charleston, SC and then taken to a rice plantation on Ossabaw, a sea island off the coast of Savannah, GA where he is renamed, Hercules. Rice driver for the Bailey Plantation he takes a family for his own, Rachel, and then her daughter Maia. As Richard Bailey's obsession, Maia grows up in the big house until the start of the Civil War. When Richard flees the plantation she returns to Ossabaw pregnant with her daughter Diana where she meets and marries Aaron, a man skilled in construction taking refuge on the island. As the years run on the family prospers and moves inland. Maia becomes a writer and Aaron a man of business in construction. Diana goes to college in Nashville and becomes a Fisk Jubilee Singer and travels the world. She struggles with her ambitions to be a famous singer. Maia struggles with her grief over lost children. Aaron struggles with his desire to make a difference for his people. Through their fortunes and misfortunes of life it's evident how moments of chance and decision can affect the direction of our lives. Described as a cross between Roots and Forest Gump the story carries the reader on a journey with this family where they encounter actual black people who have made significant contributions to African-American History.