'Run, j yi, run!'

The day the Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Òsog n, thirteen-year-old j yi's life was split in two.

Before, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient Yor ba gods of forest and water, earth and sky. After- capture, slavery - and release, into the service of a new god, his own culture left far behind. So j yi becomes Samuel Crowther - missionary, linguist, minister - and abolitionist- driven to negotiate against his own people to end the miserable trade in human beings which destroyed his family.

From the heart-stopping drama of j yi's last day of freedom to his consecration as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church, Biyi Bandele's kaleidoscopic reimagining of Crowther's life is a brilliant tour de force.