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Grace in Africa #2
The Voyage of Promise
2010 Booklist Fiction Award
She is safe, and she is free . . . but she is still alone.
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.
She is safe, and she is free . . . but she is still alone.
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.
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2010
29 people are currently reading
574 people want to read
About the author
Kay Marshall Strom
42 books31 followersKay Marshall Strom is the author of forty published books. Her writing credits also include numerous magazine articles, short stories, curriculum, stories for children, two prize-winning screenplays, and booklets for writers. Kay speaks at seminars, retreats, and special events throughout the country. She and her husband Dan Kline love to travel, and more and more Kay’s writing and speaking take her around the word.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 18, 2020
Love this book so much! Beautiful writing style, awesome story and characters.
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July 19, 2020Book 2 starts with a bang as slave traders enter Grace's village and carry away most of the inhabitants killing the young children and infirmed. Because Grace is a mulatto, the slave trader keeps her for himself and sends her husband off with the main slave ship. Grace is taken to England and grieves for the loss of her husband who is either in the West Indies or America.
Filled with the horrendous truth of this time period when blacks would turn against blacks and sell them to slave traders who would then shackle them to the bowels of the boat, beat, and starve them, Strom has brought this time period to life in vivid detail. Grace finds herself in England at the time when slavery has become a hot button topic. Her only dream is to get to American to find Cabeto. A lot more action in book 2 which I hope will continue in Book 3. I will have to read Book 3 in the series to find out what happens to both Grace and Cabeto. A well written book about this period in history.
This series definitely needs to be read in order.
Filled with the horrendous truth of this time period when blacks would turn against blacks and sell them to slave traders who would then shackle them to the bowels of the boat, beat, and starve them, Strom has brought this time period to life in vivid detail. Grace finds herself in England at the time when slavery has become a hot button topic. Her only dream is to get to American to find Cabeto. A lot more action in book 2 which I hope will continue in Book 3. I will have to read Book 3 in the series to find out what happens to both Grace and Cabeto. A well written book about this period in history.
This series definitely needs to be read in order.
March 26, 2018
Not much happens here. Grace's new village is attacked due to carelessness and almost everyone is sent off to the slave markets in the West Indies or America. Grace is sent to England. There she wails constantly about wanting to go to America to find her husband, regardless of all the warnings she is given about what will happen to an African woman in America.
One source of great irritation in reading is when characters put themselves in danger through sheer stupidity or stubbornness. Grace consistently does this to herself and yet manages to miraculously escape each time.
One source of great irritation in reading is when characters put themselves in danger through sheer stupidity or stubbornness. Grace consistently does this to herself and yet manages to miraculously escape each time.
March 29, 2021
Sad reality of our world’s history
Sad reality of our world’s history. To me it’s just crazy to realize. That Africans enslaved Africans, then sold them to white slavers.... The broken lives, broken hearts... scary and crazy. But that was the way of life, unfortunately. What amazes me and gives me hope that historically it’s the Christians and wealthy people with a heart), and lots of common folk who pushed to abolish slavery and make every person free.
Sad reality of our world’s history. To me it’s just crazy to realize. That Africans enslaved Africans, then sold them to white slavers.... The broken lives, broken hearts... scary and crazy. But that was the way of life, unfortunately. What amazes me and gives me hope that historically it’s the Christians and wealthy people with a heart), and lots of common folk who pushed to abolish slavery and make every person free.
October 18, 2022
Excellent read!!
December 18, 2024
Just okay.
March 5, 2011
This was a moving read that is sure to touch its reader’s heart. Grace Winslow’s story is powerful and rings with truth. How many countless women in Africa knew the same, or worse, horrors. As I read about Cabeto’s story, I couldn’t help cringing and gapping in horror. It is so sad to see how some humans can treat others with such depravity—and so cold heartedly! Indeed, the slave trade was a nightmare for those Africans taken from their homes by force. I can’t imagine surviving on one of those slave ships. When Cabeto described how packed they were, my skin began to crawl—I would be so claustrophobic in there, I’d go crazy!
As I read about Grace’s adventures in the first book and neared the ending of this book, I had the feeling that book 2 didn’t have as much action/adventure as book 1 had, and as book 3 seems bound to have. I still enjoyed the story and found it easy to be drawn into its pages. Kay writes with such blatant truth—never pulling any punching in regards to the slave trade and how slaves were treated—you are sure to learn something new through The Voyage of Promise. Though she doesn’t hide the horrors of the slave trade, there wasn’t anything inappropriate in this book. Besides the mention of one sailor trying to get frisky with Grace, nothing else even caught my attention as something that readers need be warned about.
The story often changed to another character’s point of view (POV) throughout the book, without so much as a sentence break. While this didn’t ruin the story or confuse me, it took me a while to get used to it. There were many characters in this story that, I felt, had been in the first book. While I did learn a little bit about them, I had the feeling that they were spoken of more in depth in the first book.
Reading about Grace’s little baby was very sad. After the scene ended, I stared at the page for a little while, thinking “No way. That did not just happen!” But it did. One of the sad truths of the slave trade. I felt that her baby’s story was told a bit hurriedly and briefly. I didn’t feel remorse along with Grace about her baby because, after her initiate mourning, it is many chapters until she thinks of him again. While this was a fact I noticed, it did not ruin the story for me in any way.
Reaching the last page, I am now left hanging. Taking advantage of the first two chapters of the next book (which I found at the back of Voyage of Promise) I find myself left with a cliffhanger. I cant wait until the next book comes out. Grace wants nothing more than to go to America to search for her beloved Cabeto…but how can she do that from prison? Wow! Yes, as I said, a cliffhanger! You won’t regret the time spent reading this wonderful, eye-opener book.
As I read about Grace’s adventures in the first book and neared the ending of this book, I had the feeling that book 2 didn’t have as much action/adventure as book 1 had, and as book 3 seems bound to have. I still enjoyed the story and found it easy to be drawn into its pages. Kay writes with such blatant truth—never pulling any punching in regards to the slave trade and how slaves were treated—you are sure to learn something new through The Voyage of Promise. Though she doesn’t hide the horrors of the slave trade, there wasn’t anything inappropriate in this book. Besides the mention of one sailor trying to get frisky with Grace, nothing else even caught my attention as something that readers need be warned about.
The story often changed to another character’s point of view (POV) throughout the book, without so much as a sentence break. While this didn’t ruin the story or confuse me, it took me a while to get used to it. There were many characters in this story that, I felt, had been in the first book. While I did learn a little bit about them, I had the feeling that they were spoken of more in depth in the first book.
Reading about Grace’s little baby was very sad. After the scene ended, I stared at the page for a little while, thinking “No way. That did not just happen!” But it did. One of the sad truths of the slave trade. I felt that her baby’s story was told a bit hurriedly and briefly. I didn’t feel remorse along with Grace about her baby because, after her initiate mourning, it is many chapters until she thinks of him again. While this was a fact I noticed, it did not ruin the story for me in any way.
Reaching the last page, I am now left hanging. Taking advantage of the first two chapters of the next book (which I found at the back of Voyage of Promise) I find myself left with a cliffhanger. I cant wait until the next book comes out. Grace wants nothing more than to go to America to search for her beloved Cabeto…but how can she do that from prison? Wow! Yes, as I said, a cliffhanger! You won’t regret the time spent reading this wonderful, eye-opener book.
February 4, 2011
Title: THE VOYAGE OF PROMISE
Author: Kay Marshall Strom
Publisher: Abingdon Press
October 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4267-0212-9
Genre: Inspirational/historical
Grace Winslow has already survived slavery once. And she is enjoying her freedom now. But the night the former slaves have in celebration ends abruptly when slavers burst into their village the next morning. Grace’s husband is taken away and her infant son is killed, but Grace is left behind.
Grace’s old enemy has a different kind of servitude planned for her in London. But Grace is determined not to be enslaved. And she doesn’t want to be separated with her husband. But with her man bound on a slave ship to America, what hope does she have of ever finding him?
THE VOYAGE OF PROMISE is the third book in Ms. Strom’s The Grace of Africa series. Readers will want to read The Call of Zulina first as this book doesn’t stand alone. The third book in the series, The Triumph of Grace will be released in 2011.
This book (and the series) is a heart-rending telling of the days when slavers burst into Africa tearing families asunder, not caring who lived or died, only what kind of price they would bring on the slave market. A heart breaking time in history, and a heart breaking book. But those who are interested in history or are previous fans of Ms. Strom’s books won’t want to miss THE VOYAGE OF PROMISE. Discussion questions and a sample chapter from the third book in the series is included at the end of the book. $14.99. 310 pages.
Author: Kay Marshall Strom
Publisher: Abingdon Press
October 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4267-0212-9
Genre: Inspirational/historical
Grace Winslow has already survived slavery once. And she is enjoying her freedom now. But the night the former slaves have in celebration ends abruptly when slavers burst into their village the next morning. Grace’s husband is taken away and her infant son is killed, but Grace is left behind.
Grace’s old enemy has a different kind of servitude planned for her in London. But Grace is determined not to be enslaved. And she doesn’t want to be separated with her husband. But with her man bound on a slave ship to America, what hope does she have of ever finding him?
THE VOYAGE OF PROMISE is the third book in Ms. Strom’s The Grace of Africa series. Readers will want to read The Call of Zulina first as this book doesn’t stand alone. The third book in the series, The Triumph of Grace will be released in 2011.
This book (and the series) is a heart-rending telling of the days when slavers burst into Africa tearing families asunder, not caring who lived or died, only what kind of price they would bring on the slave market. A heart breaking time in history, and a heart breaking book. But those who are interested in history or are previous fans of Ms. Strom’s books won’t want to miss THE VOYAGE OF PROMISE. Discussion questions and a sample chapter from the third book in the series is included at the end of the book. $14.99. 310 pages.
March 1, 2013
Grace Winslow's world is destroyed when slavers sneak into her village and carry her loved ones away in chains to Zulina. Grace is claimed by her former nemesis,Jasper Hathaway, as his own personal slave in order to humiliate her for her past treatment of him. Grace's husband and friends are loaded onto a slave ship heading first to the West Indies and then to America. Grace and Jasper board a ship heading for London. During the voyage, Grace has a chance to really read Mama Muco's Bible and claim the promises within. Once she reaches London, her driving force is to get back to the docks and find a ship to take her to America where she believes her husband is.
In this book, we get a little of the controversy between the abolitionist and the rich and powerful who feel the abolition of the slave trade is an affront to their way of life. They have concocted all kinds of lies about how well treated the slaves are on the transport ships and how their lives in slavery are so much better than their native lives in Africa. However, the unwashed masses in London aren't buying it anymore.
In this book, we get a little of the controversy between the abolitionist and the rich and powerful who feel the abolition of the slave trade is an affront to their way of life. They have concocted all kinds of lies about how well treated the slaves are on the transport ships and how their lives in slavery are so much better than their native lives in Africa. However, the unwashed masses in London aren't buying it anymore.
September 20, 2013
This book was a good read with wonderful characters that pulled at your heart and mind. I do not know if it is a true story containing some of the African American’s history or not but it seemed so. This book brought a wonderful recount of what life was back during the slavery trading times and the people of London. It read as a piece of history and yet it put faces and actions of real life characters to teach you by softening and hurting your heart while my mind to wander why it even happened. This is part of a series, of which this is the only book that I have read. It done well as a standalone book, but ended with the reader needing to buy the next book. The ending itself cannot stand alone; you are left not having a satisfying resolution. This while encouraging the reader to buy more of this series, leaves you wondering whether to buy more and having the same problem, or just leaving it be. A lot of series gives a resolution at the end that the reader can feel satisfied with what has happened; this one does not, it quit almost in the beginning of a scene. I do applaud this writer and the ability shown in this book. This book was bought at Amazon.com
September 27, 2012
Book two of the Grace in Africa series takes the reader on a journey from Africa to England with a side trip to Charleston, North Carolina. Following the story of slavery from the perspective of an African woman, Grace Winslow,who is half-white in the late 1700s is intriguing as well as educational. As an American I was not familiar with the English attitude toward slavery. Although it is the second book in the series you can pick up the story and follow it easily thanks to flashbacks and conversations between characters. Kay has masterfully crafted believable characters and given the reader a real feel of time and place.
September 10, 2011
A fictional, but nevertheless horrifying tale of the slave trade. It takes place mostly in Africa and London. An easy, but heavy read. The story ends very abruptly -- that's my biggest complaint about it. My second complaint is that the POV changes quite often and abruptly. The author does a good job of not making it too confusing, though.
I got this for free on my kindle -- it is #2 in a series, but I didn't realise that until I'd finished the book, so it's not like some books where starting in the middle of the series will totally confuse you.
I got this for free on my kindle -- it is #2 in a series, but I didn't realise that until I'd finished the book, so it's not like some books where starting in the middle of the series will totally confuse you.
April 15, 2014
The Voyage of Promise continues the story of Grace Winslow, the daughter of an English Sea Captain and an African Princess who we learned from the last book, was a part of the slave revolt in Africa. In this book Grace's life is torn apart when slave traders, headed up by an old nemesis burst into her camp and tear apart her family. Grace is sent to London to act as a personal slave and meets some wonderful characters along the way. All along the way, God is reaching out to Grace. The second book in the 'Grace in Africa' series will leave you wondering what will happen next.
November 11, 2010
Kay Marshall Strom is a wonderful writer. I love the way she never shies away from complex characters and complex issues. In Voyage, she further examines what it means to have one foot in the white world and the other in a world of blacks who've been cruelly enslaved. Great book, especially when I think of how the author works in the real world to speak out against human trafficking--the 21st century version of slavery. Well done.
July 2, 2011
Despite the fact that the characters in this book traveled around the world, I felt like they didn't go anywhere. I felt a bit cheated when the book ended. Yes, it is the first in a series, but it was a lot of nothing happening. It took me a while to get through it.
Also, I felt worse for the washerwoman working day and night to earn her roof and bed, than I did for the slaves. Is that bad?
Also, I felt worse for the washerwoman working day and night to earn her roof and bed, than I did for the slaves. Is that bad?
June 25, 2015
This book was free when I downloaded it to my Nook library.
I found it disappointing for two reasons. First, the villians have no redeeming characteristics so they are not more than stereotypes. Second, this book is nothing more than a set-up for a third book.
I recommend this only for fans of this author.
I found it disappointing for two reasons. First, the villians have no redeeming characteristics so they are not more than stereotypes. Second, this book is nothing more than a set-up for a third book.
I recommend this only for fans of this author.
Want to read
March 28, 2016*Thanks to Abingdon Press for providing an ARC for review*
May 21, 2011
I thought that "The Voyage Of Promise" was so much more enjoyable than the first book in the series, "The Call Of Zulina", and well worth my time to read it. I plan on reading the third book "The Triumph Of Grace" soon and hope it is as good as this book was to read.
Read
September 5, 2012The subject matter was upsetting but I liked the book. Haven't read the first book in the series since I got this free. I will have to read the rest to find out if Grace does find Cabeto, though it will really take a miracle for her to do so.
August 31, 2012
Blech. Worse than the first one. Not continuing the series...I'm done. Something about it just seems extremely fake. I can't feel it.
September 2, 2011
I really liked this book and didn't realize that it was the second in the series. I am going to have to get the third book to find out what happens.
July 10, 2012
Second in the "Grace in Africa" series, very good book!
September 18, 2012
Good 2nd installment of "Grace in Africa" series. She's now in England but looking to get to America to find her husband.
June 22, 2012
Good but sad
November 18, 2013
This book was ok. It is not my normal genre therefore I do not feel I could give it a good review.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews