Book 1

The Call of Zulina

by Kay Marshall Strom

Published 1 June 2009
The Grace in Africa series is a sweeping three-part historical saga of slavery and freedom that takes the reader from an island off the west coast of Africa to Southern plantations and finally on to Canada. All her life, Grace Winslow, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an English sea captain and an African princess, has been sheltered from the truth about the family business--the capture and trade of slaves. Set in 1787 in West Africa, The Call of Zulina opens as the scorching harmattan winds blow. Desperate to avoid marriage to an odious suitor, Grace escapes the family compound only to be caught up in a slave revolt at the fortress of Zulina. Soon, she begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family business. Held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace is finally jerked into reality and comes to sympathize with the plight of the captives. She admires their strength and courage and is genuinely moved by the African Cabeto's passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people's freedom.

Book 2

Slavers burst into Grace Winslow's life with guns blazing and tear her family apart forever. She watches in anguish as her husband is led in chains aboard a tightly packed slave ship bound for America. An old enemy has a more sinister plan for Grace and prepares her for a different kind of servitude in London. But Grace will not be enslaved. And she will not give up on the man she loves. In her determination to be reunited with her husband, she finds God reaching out to her.

Book 3

The Triumph of Grace

by Kay Marshall Strom

Published 1 November 2010
Grace in Africa is a sweeping historical three-part saga of slavery and freedom that takes the reader from an island off the west coast of Africa to Southern plantations and finally on to Canada. All her life, Grace Winslow, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an English sea captain and an African princess, has been forbidden to ever approach Zulina, the fortress that juts out into the sea off the African coast. In book 1, when she escapes the family compound to avoid an odious betrothal, she is swept up in a slave revolt. As the truth about Zulina unfolds, Grace begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family business-the capture and trade of slaves. Held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace is finally jerked into reality when her parents leave her to die rather than negotiate with the slaves. Grace sympathizes with the plight of the captives, and she is genuinely moved by the African Cabeto's passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people's freedom. With much of the island in flames, and the slaves freed, Grace is abandoned by her parents. Where shall she go? Her old nursemaid Mama Muco, opens a missionary Bible that she has managed to save and points to Isaiah 61: "The Lord has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound . . . to give unto them garlands of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning." It's a new beginning for Grace.