| Hammond Maxwell, proud owner of the rich
Falconhurst Plantation and it many slaves, is now
a haunted man, tormented by the spirit of the
great Mandingo slave he had slain. The Mandingo,
Mede, had lain with Ham's own wife, and Ham's
vengence had been terrible. but Mede's death is a
great loss to Falconhurst:; as a Mandingan stud
he was highly prized and , now it is illewgal to
import slaves, he is irreplaceable. but the
desire to find the perfect mandingan who will be
the pride of Falconhurst becomes the driving
obession that bring Ham back to life. His quest
takes him to Africa, to the jungle of the Senegal
river where he meets Mansa Obed, Mandingan king
ruling in splendor. Tall. proud. regal. skilled
in the use of power. accustomed to command,
irresistible to women black and white, Obed is a
black like none Ham has never encountered. And
when Ham lures Mansa Obed to America with him, he
begins a savage contest of wills between them.
Obed will soon taste the whip of Falconhurst,
know the humiliation of slavery and feel the fear
of the runaway.And in Spanish Floria, where
blacks snatch at a precarious freedom as General
Jackson's troops advance to crush their
indepence, he will also discover the depth of
atrue love and the exhilaration of fighting a
hated enemy in a just cause.
in Mansa Obed, Maxwell will encounter a spirit
he cannot crush-a man who forces him to doubt the
code of white superiority that has ruled his
life,
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| Author note As Kyle Onstott wrote
in 1957 in his novel Mandingo, the
Mandingo people were a Hamitic tribe of
the western sudan- perhaps of Arab or
Berber origin. They were proud, handsome,
strong, robust. purebreed Mandingans were
of a rich coppper colour, with moorish
features.
The Mandingan Kingdom, established
about 1200ad. had its capital at Timbutu.
These people commanded a premium in the
slave market because of their strength,
vigour, beauty, delicacy and
intelligence.
Only a few Mandingos were brought to
the mainland of north America.
The mandingan king of this novel was
one of these tragic beings. he was called
"Mansa" by his subjects, the
mandingan word for supreme ruler. he was
regal in every sense of the word.
Ironically, "Mansa" is
pronounced "Massa". the
slave-word for the southern planation
owner.
Ashley Carter
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