Set in a wonderfully reimagined 15th century West Africa, Masquerade is a dazzling, lyrical tale exploring the true cost of one woman's fight for freedom and self-discovery, and the lengths she'll go to secure her future.

 

Ododo's hometown of Timbuktu has been conquered by the the warrior king of Yorubaland. Already shunned as social pariahs, living conditions for Ododo and the other women in her blacksmith guild grow even worse under Yoruba rule.

 

Then Ododo is abducted. She is whisked across the Sahara to the capital city of Sangotee, where she is shocked to discover that her kidnapper is none other than the vagrant who had visited her guild just days prior. But now that he is swathed in riches rather than rags, Ododo realizes he is not a vagrant at all; he is the warrior king, and he has chosen her to be his wife.

 

In a sudden change of fortune, Ododo soars to the very heights of society. But after a lifetime of subjugation, the power that saturates this world of battle and political savvy becomes too enticing to resist. As tensions with rival states grow, revealing elaborate schemes and enemies hidden in plain sight, Ododo must defy the cruel king she has been forced to wed by re-forging the shaky loyalties of the court in her favor, or risk losing everything - including her life.

 

Loosely based on the myth of Persephone, O.O. Sangoyomi's Masquerade takes you on a journey of epic power struggles and political intrigue that turn an entire region on its head.