Spirited Away - A Novel of the Stolen Irish - Maggie Plummer - Bog

In May 1653, young Frederica (Freddy) O'Brennan and her sister Aileen trust a stranger on an empty beach in western Ireland, inadvertently placing themselves in the crosshairs of Cromwell's notorious Reign of Terror. Freddy awakens in the crammed hold of a slave ship bound for Barbados. She and Aileen endure the gruesome voyage only to be wrenched apart when purchased at auction by sugar plantation owners from different islands. Freddy is left alone to face the brutal realities of life as a female Irish slave on a seventeenth century Barbados plantation. As she struggles to survive the ordeal, Freddy's harrowing experiences paint an intimate, compelling portrait of 1650s Irish and African slavery in the Caribbean. Publishers Weekly says: "In this highly researched novel, Freddy O'Brennan is living a modest and happy life in 1653 Ireland until English soldiers force her father to fight for the Crown in Spain. Freddy is a survivor, quick to adapt to dire situations, which makes her an easy hero to root for. ...By May of 1653, Freddy thinks she is safe, until English soldiers kidnap and sell her into slavery. Freddy's ordeal interweaves with that of African slaves, and in an honest portrayal, she must battle her own prejudices against her fellow slaves... Short chapters full of hope and Freddy's fierce spirit will keep readers turning the pages."