The Dahomean

by Frank Yerby 2 books in this series

The Dahomean sequence follows one protagonist across the Atlantic world of slavery. The Dahomean begins in the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the reign of Ghezo, where Nyasanu grows toward adult rank within a militarised court and society deeply entangled with the Atlantic slave trade. Betrayal eventually tears him from his homeland and sends him into enslavement across the ocean.
A Darkness at Ingraham’s Crest resumes his life in the American South, where he has been stripped of his name and recast as Wes Parks. The two novels therefore connect African political history to plantation slavery through a continuous character rather than treating enslavement as beginning in America. Yerby uses that continuity to explore cultural survival, coercion, resistance and the ways power tries to remake identity.

Reading order

Books in this series (2 books)

1. The Dahomean

Frank Yerby

First published 1971

4.1(112)

In early nineteenth-century Dahomey, Nyasanu is raised as the son of a chief and prepared for the duties, privileges and dangers of adult authority. His education passes through family politics, warfare, religious practice and the royal world of King Ghezo, while Yerby builds a detailed picture…

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2. A Darkness at Ingraham’s Crest

Frank Yerby

First published 1979

3.5(33)

Hwesu, the Dahomean protagonist of The Dahomean, has survived the Atlantic crossing only to be reduced in the American South to the imposed name Wes Parks. Enslaved at Ingraham’s Crest, he retains his knowledge of metalworking, healing and the cultural practices of his homeland while learning…

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