Freedom Bound

by Rosalie Turner

Slave traders capture 13 yr.old Anta Majigeen Ndiaye,a village princess. Anta's family dies on a slave ship and Anta begins her quest for freedom. The road to freedom takes her from Africa to Spanish East Florida-from village to plantation--from a blanket on a dirt floor of a thatched hut to her master's bed. Inspired by the life of Anna Kingsley. Kingsley Plantation is now a National Park in Florida.

Genres: Historical Fiction

324 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2006

About the author

Award-winning author, Rosalie Turner, is a civil rights historian who writes stories that embody the struggles of African Americans. Her book, Sisters of Valor, received the Military Writers Society of America Bronze Award for Fiction. Her book March With Me, was both a 2013 INDIES Winner and USA Best Book finalist and her book Freedom Bound received the Florida First Coast Writers’ Award.

An Endowed Professorship at Texas A&M University – Commerce has been named in honor of Frank and Rosalie Turner for their work in Race and Reconciliation. Rosalie and Frank have been leading pilgrimages of students from the university to Alabama and Mississippi, reaching many hundreds of students. These have been developed into 3 credit hour classes. The university has expanded the idea of exposing students to the civil rights struggle in our nation hoping to empower them to move forward with some kind of action.
Rosalie is a graduate of Mary Washington College, which at that time was the women’s college of UVA. She has worked as a juvenile probation officer and as a Director of Christian Education. Rosalie was fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom but worked through volunteer activities, including Headstart Program, Habitat for Humanity, a jail ministry, teaching adult literacy and English as a Second Language, and tutoring in the inner city.
While living in Jacksonville, FL, Rosalie received the JC Penney Award for establishing a summer reading program in the inner city. Rosalie has always been very active in her church wherever she has lived. Her family has moved 18 times due to her husband’s career. Rosalie is married to Frank Kile Turner, and they are soon celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. The Turners have two sons, Kile who with his wife Sara (both attorneys) live in Birmingham, Alabama. Joel along with his wife Kelly, live in Durham, North Carolina. Joel is a homicide detective and Kelly is a public health nurse. Rosalie and Frank lost a third son, Terry, to leukemia when he was ten years old. Rosalie and Frank have 6 grandchildren. Follow Rosalie on Facebook.

Reviews

[Doann Houghton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating true story of this amazing woman.

[Colleen MacFarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosalie Turner understands how to engage the reader. Freedom bound, from page one is a page-turner. I've met her and she is a delightful woman, with many interests and talents.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very thought-provoking!

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Borrowed this from a friend on a whim, it tells the story of Anta (Anna), a woman sold into slavery from Senegal as a young girl in the 1790s. She ends up living in Florida and becomes the "wife" of the plantation owner, who, soon after she bears his children, sets her free and takes care of her for the rest of her life. This story is based on truth, the people really existed, but the story seems kind of undeveloped, goes quickly at times and at other times, drags on. It was an ok read. I am always intrigued by the notion that Africans owned slaves, too. This is also explored in The Known World.

[Echo Heron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Rosalie Turner's FREEDOM BOUND to be a well written and fascinating historical novel. This fascinating story is based on the life of Anta Majigeen Ndiaya ( Anna Kingsley), a woman who was taken by slavers from her village in Senegal, Africa when she was 13 years old. The rest of her family murdered, Freedom Bound tells the story of her life as a slave - then as a slave-owner - on the plantation owned by Zephaniah Kingsley near what is now Jacksonville, Florida. A fast-paced, interesting read.

[Darla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, just from a personal history perspective. As a literary work though, not fantastic. Repetitive. I found the tree image really over done.