Yemaya’s Daughters

by Dane Figueroa Edidi

Inanna Au-Set Oya, a trans woman, priestess, and storyteller with deep connections to the goddess, emerges from a province in Africa untouched by colonialist hands to find a world twisted with misconception and pain. She and her sisters choose to go forth and correct the imbalances found by ushering in an age of love and worth.
​
Maryam, mother of Jesus, holds fast to her convictions when from tragedy is born a new god. Without sisters, or guidance for her choices, she finds a world under Roman foot and is determined to create a spiritual revolt that will create ripples for ages to come.
​
Yemaya's Daughters tells the tale of two different women with but one goal in mind: how best to change the world without losing themselves in the process.

Genres: Fiction, Transgender, Fantasy, LGBT, Queer, Africa, Speculative Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2014

About the author

DUBBED "THE ANCIENT JAZZ PRIESTESS OF MOTHER AFRICA", LADY DANE FIGUEROA EDIDI IS AN AFRICAN,CUBAN, INDIGENIOUS, AMERICAN TRANS PERFORMANCE ARTIST, AUTHOR (YEMAYA'S DAUGHTERS, BREW, WITHER & BALTIMORE: A LOVE LETTER, REMAINS:A GATHERING OF BONES), TEACHER, CHOREOGRAPHER, ORACLUR CONSULTANT, HEALER, ADVOCATE, AND A FOUNDING MEMBER OF FORCE COLLISION.

SHE IS THE DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL INITIATIVES FOR TWOCC (TRANS WOMEN OF COLOR COLLECTIVE).

SHE IS A 2016 HELEN HAYES AWARD NOMINEE FOR HER CHOREORGAPHY IN DONTRELL WHO KISSED THE SEA.

A NATIVE OF BALTIMORE MARYLAND, AND GROWING UP SINGING JAZZ (UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF HER AUNT LIZ FIGUEROA, RUBY GLOVER & MARK COOK) AND GOSPEL; LADY DANE BEGAN TO STUDY MUSIC "FORMALLY" AT THE BALTIMORE SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS AND CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY.
​
AN ACTOR SINGER, DANCER, WRITER AND TEACHER; LADY DANE MADE HER CABARET DEBUT AT THE AGE OF 17 AND IN 2011 MADE HER NEW YORK DEBUT. AFTER BEGINNING TO STUDY THE DANCES OF HER ANCESTORS; LADY DANE BEGAN COMBINING AFRICAN, LATIN AND NATIVE AMERICAN RYTHMS INTO HER SHOWS.
​
ALTHOUGH PRIMARILY KNOWN FOR HER EXPLOSIVE CABARET, LADY DANE IS A PASSIONATE ACTOR AND HAS WORKED AT SUCH THEATRES AS ROUND HOUSE THEATRE, THE KENNEDY CENTER, THEATRE FOR THE NEW CITY, ARENA STAGE, ADVENTURE THEATRE, ATLAS THEATRE, SPOOKY ACTION THEATRE AND LAMAMA WHERE LADY DANE WAS PRIVILEDGED TO ORIGINATE THE ROLE OF THE VAUDIVELLE QUEEN CORDELIA MCCLAIN IN SHAPE.

IN DECEMBER 2013 LADY DANE FIGUEROA EDIDI BECAME THE FIRST TRANS WOMAN OF COLOR AUTHOR IN DC TO PUBLISH A NOVEL OF FICTION (YEMAYA'S DAUGHTERS) WHOSE MAIN PROTAGONIST WAS A TRANS WOMAN.



IN 2014, SHE WAS FEATURED IN SEASON 1 OF THE WEBSERIES THE GREEN VESPERS

HER STORY HERIDAS WAS FEATURED IN DICCION QUEER'S FIRST ANTHOLOGY ENSAYOS DE PAPEL.

IN 2015 SHE RECIEVED THE PIONEER AWARD FOR WORK WITH THE DC TRANS COMMUNITY AND WAS HONORED AS ONE OF THE TRANS 10O. AND, MADE HISTORY AGAIN AS THE FIRST TRANS PLAYWRIGHT WHOSE WORK IS APART OF THEATER ALLAINCES'S HOT HOUSE NEW PLAY READING SERIES.
​
IN 2016, SHE ALONG WITH PERFORMANCE ARTIST/PRODUCER D'LO BECAME THE FIRST TRANS ARTIST TO DO AN ARTIST RESIDENCY AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY FOR THEIR ONGOING ANNUAL TRANS ARTIST RESIDENCY SERIES.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe someday I'll stop reading books that are super difficult to follow, because wow was this book a struggle, but then... it was also so gorgeous and very worth it. I loved the premise, the writing, but I had a difficult time following the story as it burst with characters and traversed wildly through time. We spend more of the book in the story of incarnate goddess (?) Inanna than in the more personally intriguing biblical retelling of Maryam, but the way the threads ultimately tied together was deeply satisfying to the effort I'd spent reading this slim volume.

Meshes in my brain with The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson, The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara, and Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi, so maybe check it out if you've loved those.

Cw for suicide, transmisogyny & misogyny & heterosexism, slurs

[James]

Picked up on the recommendation of the Transfeminine Review, which considers it one of the most ambitious trans novels ever written. That's certainly one way to put it.

I struggled through the occasionally cringey dialogue, but was given more serious pause by the bizarre racism. Obviously Jewish character getting lectured about how his God is evil? The only explicitly Asian protagonist is a ninja wielding a katana with a Chinese name? Hm.

I took a break and came back a month later, figuring an older book with limited editing deserves some grace. Six pages later, I had to DNF at the reveal about Hitler.

Yes, really. I don't think I'm able or willing to get past that.

[Adri Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of really intriguing thought about the feminine divine in here, and I liked the main character a lot - unfortunately it didn't come together as a story for me but still worth checking out, especially if the concept and/or author are of interest.

[Brooks Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

well any time you start talking about the ancients you can get a little woo-woo and if you include the idea of the ancients working through us now then it can be confusing: am i being Kali or Durga or Isis or Inana or maybe Minnie Pearl? this book is a great vision of what it is like to grow up black and trans and taught by spirits and grandmothers to find out who is in you and to act along those lines. as a male person i am often confused by the goddess--she cannot always break through my left-brained linear way to show me the spiral. i heard the author speak one year ago at a combination Black/LGBTAI event and was transported by their way of speaking and their fierce commitment to personal truth. i recommend this book to poets and readers who recall James Joyce and the Kabala and to writers who wonder "Can I talk about THAT?" Oh, yes, you can.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! It was written so beautifully. Highly recommend it.