Praise Song for the Butterflies

“An engrossing novel that truly is a praise song for survivors everywhere.”
--Kirkus Reviews
“This harrowing yet compelling tale is not for the faint of heart but does promise redemption in the most trying of circumstances.”
--Booklist
«On the heels of her American Book Award- and NAACP Image Award-winning novel The Book of Harlan, McFadden's 10th novel, Praise Song for the Butterflies, gives us the story of Abeo, a privileged 9-year-old girl in West Africa who is sacrified by her family into a brutal life of ritual servitude to atone for the father's sins. Fifteen years later, Abeo is freed and must learn how to heal and live again. A difficult stor that, according to Kirkus, McFadden takes on with 'riveting prose' that 'keeps the reader turning pages.'"
--The Millions, included in Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2018 Book Preview
“A tale set in [West Africa], where a girl is given up by her family, endures a very hard life, and, once set free, must find a way to heal and live forward.”
--Philadelphia Inquirer, Included in Must-Read Books for Summer 2018
«Recent favorites [at Mahogany Books in Washington, DC] include…award-winning novelist Bernice L. McFadden's forthcoming Praise Song for the Butterflies, about a nine-year-old West African girl sacrified into religious servitude.”
--Vanity Fair, included in a feature on Mahogany Books
Included in BookRiot's “22 Upcoming Releases by Authors of Color Featured at BEA”
“Abeo is unrelenting--a fiery protagonist who sparks in every scene. Bernice L. McFadden has created yet another compelling story, this time about hope and freedom.”
--Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun
Praise for the previous works of Bernice L. McFadden:
“McFadden works a kind of miracle--not only do her characters retain their appealing humanity; their story eclipses the bonds of history to offer continuous surprises…Beautiful and evocative.”
--Jesmyn Ward, New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice), on Gathering of Waters
“Simply miraculous.”
--Washington Post on The Book of Harlan
Abeo Kata lives a comfortable, happy life in West Africa as the privileged nine-year-old daughter of a government employee and stay-at-home mother. But when the Katas' idyllic lifestyle takes a turn for the worse, Abeo's father, following his mother's advice, places the girl in a religious shrine, hoping that the sacrifice of his daughter will serve as atonement for the crimes of his ancestors. Unspeakable acts befall Abeo for the fifteen years she is held in the shrine. When she is finally rescued, broken and battered, she must struggle to overcome her past, endure the revelation of family secrets, and learn to trust and love again.
In the tradition of Chris Cleave's Little Bee, this novel is a contemporary story that offers an eye-opening account of the practice of ritual servitude in West Africa. Spanning decades and two continents, Praise Song for the Butterflies will break your heart and then heal it.