Skin of the Sea is a beautifully and honestly written love letter to West African history, culture, mythology, and fiction. Such evocative and heart-wrenching storytelling from page one.

Set in the mid-1400s, it begins with Simidele, a Mami Wata, rescuing a boy when he’s cast off a slave ship into the ocean. Simi has memories of the same happening to her, before she became Mami Wata. Skin of the Sea faces the ugly side of history head on but also shows us the wonders and magnificence of African ingenuity, culture, and history outside of slavery.