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Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom—and that of her sister and her mother—from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent.
Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life: a restless shipping merchant, Joseph Thomas; a wealthy planter hiding a secret, John Coseveldt Cells; and a roguish naval captain who will later become King William IV of England.
From the bustling port cities of the West Indies to the forbidding drawing rooms of London’s elite, Island Queen is a sweeping epic of an adventurer and a survivor who answered to no one but herself as she rose to power and autonomy against all odds, defying rigid eighteenth-century morality and the oppression of women as well as people of color. It is an unforgettable portrait of a true larger-than-life woman who made her mark on history.
Source: NetGalley; ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
Island Queen has been one of the most anticipated historical fictions to release this year. Not only is it based on a woman of color, it's a woman of color who went on to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs of her time. Dorothy "Dolly" Kirwan was born into slavery but scraped together her savings so she could eventually buy her freedom and that of her rest of her family. Reading about slavery anytime is disturbing and to view it from Dorothy's point of view only made the horrors more personal and terrifying. An immediate thing that struck me about her was how much she seemed to admire her father, a slave owner. He was devoted to Dorothy, her little sister and their mother but that devotion was not enough to free them. Though she was a slave, she and her family seemed to have been protected from the harsh lives the other slaves led. It didn't mean that she was spared from a harsh reality having to contend with her half brother who hated her, poverty and the ever-changing political climate in the Caribbean at the time. After a horrible incident involving her brother, she runs away to a different island where she finds employment with another slaver who has always been kind to her and her family. There she maintains a good rhythm, becomes resourceful, saves her money and yes, finally buys that long-awaited freedom she's dreamed off for so long. Dorothy, who naively thought as a child that her own father would publicly claim her, grew to develop a strong sense of her own agency, now has the world in her sights.
I had never heard of Dorothy "Dolly" Kirwan Thomas before and to read about her was to marvel at what a resilient, ingenious person she was. It's amazing that as a woman of color at that time, she managed to carve out a distinct space for herself. While she couldn't read, she was acclaimed for her business acumen. She understood human nature and relied heavily on her instincts and the few close people in her inner circle she could trust. She also comes across in the novels as forthright, not one to waste time or energy on anything that wasn't fruitful. Her story unfolds through her various relationships to the people in her lives, particularly her romances. I like how the chapters are broken down taking the reader through the pivotal years in her life.
In her extensive author's notes, Riley explains that she spent 10 years researching anything she could find out about Dorothy. I think she did amazingly at piecing together what she could of Dorothy's exploits. Part of me wishes there was more to tell outside of her love affairs but I think at that period in time, Dorothy had to play the game as it was laid out - in a white man's world. I do believe she fell in love and hard, but that she also knew her own mind, and if they couldn't reciprocate she was self-sufficient enough to take care of herself. Dorothy's driving motive for working as hard as she did was that she didn't want herself or her children to be beholden to anyone. Freedom for people of color wasn't guaranteed so financial security was of utmost importance to her. That was how she could provide for her family and set them up in the world.
I fell in love with the Caribbean when I first went there a few years ago and I appreciate that Island Queen brings awareness to its political and economic history, and that it also looks at colonial history through the eyes of a woman of color. After I finished the novel, I read up on Dorothy some more, wondering what became of her many descendants. Dorothy's story has stayed with me and I still think about what a force she must've been. Since its release, Island Queen been selected as GMA's Buzz Pick, and it's been optioned for a movie by the team behind Bridgerton. I'm so pleased that Dorothy's story is being brought to life and will reach an even wider audience. Island Queen is worth all the buzz!
~ Bel
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