The diary of Sarah Forbes Bonetta - Victoria Princewill

"[Victoria Princewill's] real skill, in this
highly engaging book, is to create a convincing Victorian heroine
to whose emotional highs and lows any modern reader will relate.
" - The Daily Telegraph

A powerful retelling of the extraordinary life of orphaned
African princess, Sarah Forbes Bonetta.

"You are not an aristocrat. An aristocrat is born
to a noble family. You were born into royalty. You are a princess."

Set in 1860, this is the story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta,
the intelligent, multilingual Yoruba princess
from West Africa who became the protgof
the British Queen Victoria.

On the evening of her seventeenth birthday, she is told that her
old name, herrealname is Aina. Oma'ba Aina
from the fallen Oyo Empire.

Equipped with this knowledge, Sarah attempts to navigate life
as a foster daughter, a protg and a young black girl
in Victorian England. But can one really feel like royalty when
the freedom of autonomy is something so far out of reach for a
person of her gender and race?

Victoria Princewill reimagines Sarah's life in England,
telling the story of a girl living between two cultures, trying
to create, and assert, her own identity.

• The first of two titles from Victoria that will focus on real
  Black women born into royalty


• A very exciting new voice in YA fiction


• Victoria aims to to shed light on women's stories that have been
  forgotten by history


• From the author of In the Palace of the Flowers.