Fate & Freedom: Book I: The Middle Passage

2020 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS BOOK AWARDS WINNER - BEST SERIES

2018 AFRO AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL BOOK AWARDS WINNER - ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION

2018 AFRO AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL BOOK AWARDS WINNER - YOUNG ADULT FICTION

2015 FLORIDA AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS PRESIDENT'S BOOK AWARDS WINNER - BEST HISTORICAL FICTION GOLD

A SERIES FOR ALL AGES...

Torn from their homeland in Africa by brutal slave traders Margaret and John are shipped four thousand miles away to the silver mines of Mexico. Unexpectedly, the slaver is pirated at sea and the Calvinist Reverend turned Privateer, Captain Jope, takes Margaret and John to the shores of Virginia instead. The year - 1619. Based on exhaustive genealogical and historical research, this epic novel traces the fate of the passengers on what has since become known as the "Black Mayflower." Margaret and John brave disease, Indian attacks, and political intrigue in England and America, as they are among the first Africans to settle in Virginia, long before slavery became institutionalized there. Set against the backdrop of warfare between Spain and England and the power struggles within the Virginia Company in London and Jamestown, Margaret and John's journey to freedom is a powerful saga of courage and survival at the dawn of America's history.

Kathryn Knight, who uses the pen name K. I. Knight, is a genealogist, historian, author, keynote speaker, and cemetery preservationist. Knight has logged more than 20,000 hours over the last thirteen years, researching the first documented Africans to arrive in the English settlement of Virginia in 1619. In 2016, as a national advisory board member and historian for Project 1619, Inc., Knight co-curated the 1619 First African Landing exhibit at the Hampton History Museum in Hampton, Virginia. Her passion is unrivaled and strongly evident in the international award-winning series "Fate & Freedom" as well as "UNVEILED - The Twenty & Odd, Documenting the First Africans in England's America 1619-1625 and Beyond". With the commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the First African Landing in Hampton, Virginia, Knight's work took center-stage, winning the highest of accolades from the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society for her historical series, "Fate & Freedom." Knight also received the Phillis Wheatley Literary Award from the Sons and Daughters of the US Middle Passage for "Unveiled - The Twenty & Odd, Documenting the First Africans in England's America 1619-1625 and Beyond". Additionally, Unveiled - The Twenty & Odd was awarded three medals from the Florida Authors & Publishers Association in August in the following three categories - Nonfiction-Adult, Research/Reference, and Best Cover Design. All of Knight's books have received five stars from Readers Favorite, calling her historical series a "Masterpiece with an irresistible appeal." In 2019, Knight's literary work became the source material to numerous international and national journalism outlets, including the Associated Press, USA Today, TIME, the Washington Post, and the National Parks Magazine, to name a few. Knight currently serves on the board of directors for several national non-profit organizations and is a member of numerous historical, genealogical, and literary societies. Knight also writes the Genealogy blog, Kinfolk Detective.