In addition, I constructed Otera as a supremely patriarchal place. I wanted to make sure that my world was diverse, but that in this diversity, everything had a noticeably West African flair. I conceived of Otera, the world in my book, as a global empire, one that would stretch across three continents and imagine that West Africa – particularly Nigeria and Sierra Leone – conquered the globe instead of vice versa. This was the early 2010’s, way before Black Panther and other works like it were even a thought. The idea of The Gilded Ones came from a dream I had while I was doing my undergraduate studies at Spelman College, but I didn’t get started writing until a couple of years later.
Then actual demons invade, and the alaki are given a choice: fight or die. When Deka is proven impure, she’s told that she’s an alaki (pronounced a-la-key), a member of a group of girls who are considered demons because they bleed gold and are faster and stronger than regular people. It’s set in an African-inspired fantasy world called Otera and follows a young girl, Deka, who lives in a world where every sixteen-year-old girl must go through a ritual to determine if they’re pure or not. A post shared by Namina Forna YA novel, The Gilded Ones, debuted in February 2021.
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