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Based on the life of accomplished merchant prince King Ja Ja of Opobo, Anthony Kellman has created a richly imaginative and warmly human work of historical fiction. Weaving between the official records and the satirical and cynical traditions of the “tuk” song, Tracing Ja Ja traces the emerging love between an ailing African king in exile and his Barbadian servant Becka. When Jubo Jubogba began life as a trader’s slave, paddling the great house’s canoes, no one could’ve predicted his meteoric ascent to become Ja Ja of Opobo, a sage merchant king of the Niger’s rich river delta. Exiled at the age of seventy, first to St Vincent and then to Barbados, King Ja Ja is officially the guest of the British colonial government but is, in reality, its prisoner. Falling for his (much younger) servant Becka, the novel reaches beneath the cynical reading of their relationship voiced by the island’s Tuk tradition to explore their genuine bond. Casting a critical eye on a shameful episode in imperial history, the story explores Ja Ja’s life in the White-dominated Barbadian culture and his nascent love for Becka against his longing for home, as the Barbadian landscape slowly lifts his despair and entices him into a new sense of belonging. Kellman’s psychological insight crosses ages and cultures, with a poet’s perception of the beauties of his island’s flora and fauna. The story of King Ja Ja inspired the popular Barbadian “tuk” folk song. “King Ja Ja won’ leh Becka alone King Ja Ja won’ leh Becka alone Wha’ Becka got, um is all she own.”
Based on the life of accomplished merchant prince King Ja Ja of Opobo, Anthony Kellman has created a richly imaginative and warmly human work of historical fiction. Weaving between the official records and the satirical and cynical traditions of the “tuk” song, Tracing Ja Ja traces the emerging love between an ailing African king in exile and his Barbadian servant Becka. When Jubo Jubogba began life as a trader’s slave, paddling the great house’s canoes, no one could’ve predicted his meteoric ascent to become Ja Ja of Opobo, a sage merchant king of the Niger’s rich river delta. Exiled at the age of seventy, first to St Vincent and then to Barbados, King Ja Ja is officially the guest of the British colonial government but is, in reality, its prisoner. Falling for his (much younger) servant Becka, the novel reaches beneath the cynical reading of their relationship voiced by the island’s Tuk tradition to explore their genuine bond. Casting a critical eye on a shameful episode in imperial history, the story explores Ja Ja’s life in the White-dominated Barbadian culture and his nascent love for Becka against his longing for home, as the Barbadian landscape slowly lifts his despair and entices him into a new sense of belonging. Kellman’s psychological insight crosses ages and cultures, with a poet’s perception of the beauties of his island’s flora and fauna. The story of King Ja Ja inspired the popular Barbadian “tuk” folk song. “King Ja Ja won’ leh Becka alone King Ja Ja won’ leh Becka alone Wha’ Becka got, um is all she own.”
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