daughter of a daughter of a queen by sarah bird

At war’s end, having tasted freedom, Cathy refuses to return to servitude and makes the monumental decision to disguise herself as a man and join the Army’s legendary Buffalo Soldiers. Her means of deliverance is Union general Phillip Henry “Smash ‘em Up” Sheridan, the outcast of West Point who takes the rawboned, prideful young woman into service. According to her mother, she was a captive, bound by her noble warrior blood to escape the enemy. “Here’s the first thing you need to know about Miss Cathy Williams: I am the daughter of a daughter of a queen and my mama never let me forget it.” Though born into bondage on a “miserable tobacco farm” in Little Dixie, Missouri, Cathy Williams was never allowed to considered herself a slave. From author Sarah Bird comes the compelling, hidden story of Cathy Williams, a former slave and the only woman to ever serve with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers. Very highly recommended.This program includes a bonus conversation with the author and is read by acclaimed narrator Bahni Turpin, whose voice listeners will recognize from The Hate U Give, Children of Blood and Bone, and The Underground Railroad. The author brings to life a side of the Civil War and Indian Wars rarely touched upon in fiction. It is meticulously researched and detailed, even down to dialect. This book is a feat of imagination and novel craft that sweeps you away into another world from the first page. Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen is one of only five books I can think of that deserve that accolade, especially given that the author had so little actual history around which to build her sweeping tale. Until now.Įven when you are an avid reader, there are only rare occasions when a book lives up to being called an epic, immersive adventure. What follows is an unlikely two-year adventure with a mysterious twist that has been lost to the pages of history.

At the end of the war, she faces an uncertain future and makes the bold choice of disguising herself as a man and enlisting with the Buffalo Soldiers. But luckily for her, she is rather androgynous in appearance and is often mistaken for a boy which, combined with the General’s favor, helps her survive where other women have not. When Cathy, the strong, outspoken, and proud granddaughter of an African queen, is shuffled from bondage in the South into service with General Philip Henry Sheridan toward the end of the war, she learns just how hard being off the plantation can be, especially for a black woman.

Based on a little-known piece of history, this book tells the story of Cathy Williams, the only woman to ever serve with the Buffalo Soldiers, a group of black cavalrymen who fought in the Indian Wars in post-Civil War America.

Daughter of a daughter of a queen by sarah bird