Island Queen

 by Vanessa Riley

This is a fictional account of a real woman, Dorothy Kirwan Thomas.  Dolly as she liked to be called began her life as a slave, she was raped by her half-brother (son of her slave owner father).  The story tells of her life and loves, the many children she bore by several men including a prince of England.  He documents how she worked to become an entrepreneur, hiring out housekeepers, to raise money to free herself and her family members from slavery.  She succeeded at that and became a very wealthy and powerful woman in the caribbean.  Men seem to have been smitten by her.  She was lucky, she had many white men who were willing to work with her or for her to help her achieve her goals.  She faced a lot of hurdles trying to be a black business-woman.

She faced many hardships, her first lover kept the daughter she had by him, convincing her it was better to take the girl back to England to the family of him and his wife.  She never forgave him for this.  The book describes the history of slavery, the battles between England and France over some of the islands and a rebellion by the slaves on one island.  Her daughter and the daughter's husband were involved int his and Dolly had to get her to another island and change her name to save her from being tried or killed (her husband died in the fighting). Dolly eventually married one man, Mr. Thomas and they had several children together.  She loved him but couldn't really admit it and she always did what she wanted even if he advised against it.

The book then goes on to document her life building stores, and hotels, a plantation which got destroyed in the slave uprising.  She admitted that the girls she hired out as housekeepers often ended up having sex with her employers and eventually she had someone buy slaves for her to help her build her hotels and work on her plantation.  She justified this by saying she treated them better than the white "mastas" would have.  She was a very determined and complicated person.

The book was well researched and interesting.  I do feel that the book could have been shorter, a few of the details of the family lives and adventures could have been skipped.