Testimony of an Irish Slave GirlKidnapped from Galway, Ireland, as a young girl, shipped to Barbados, and forced to work the land alongside African slaves, Cot Daley's life has been shaped by injustice. In this stunning debut novel, Kate McCafferty re-creates, through Cot's story, the history of the more than fifty thousand Irish who were sold as indentured servants to Caribbean plantation owners during the seventeenth century. As Cot tells her story-the brutal journey to Barbados, the harrowing years of fieldwork on the sugarcane plantations, her marriage to an African slave and rebel leader, and the fate of her children—her testimony reveals an exceptional woman's astonishing life. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Afebwa Africans Ardiss Arlington arms Barbados began beneath Betty biddy Big Dinah bondspeople breeding Bridgetown brought cabin calabashes called cane Captain child cloth Coote’s Coromantee Cot Daley Cot Quashey dark door Dora eyes face father fields fingers fish garden Glebe Governor ground hair hand Hausa head heard husband indentured indentured servants Irish Irishwoman island Jack Vaughton Jenks Jiba Jihad knew lady’s laughed lifted looked Lucy Mama Chiva Mary Master Plackler midden mistress morning mother never night once overseers pallet Paudi Iasc Pawpaw Jack Peter Coote pickaninny plantation prisoner prisoner’s pulled Quashey’s remember Salome’s says Scots girl second gang seemed sent servants shed shoulders skirt slave sloop smile Spaniole Speightstown spoke stood sugar Sunday surcoat tell things told tongue took trees umma Virginia colony voice waiting who’d woman women words yard young