Ankara Press, the commercial imprint of Cassava Republic Press, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to THE SEVEN STATES, an epic romantasy trilogy by Ghanaian writer, Cheryl Ntumy. Assistant Editor Boluwatito Sanusi acquired the rights from Bieke van Aggelen at African Literary Agency.
The trilogy will launch with A GUIDE TO SILK AND SEDITION in May 2027, followed by A MANIFESTO FOR MAGIC AND MAYHEM in 2028 and AN ODE TO LOVE AND LIBERATION in 2029.
Inspired by West African histories and cultures, A Guide to Silk and Sedition is set in the Seven States, where great merchant Houses command the power of nations and magic is outlawed. The series follows Adjai Asaré, daughter of Avor’s most powerful silk houses, who strikes a deal with Essyen Oppong, a gifted shoemaker, to save her failing bid to become Emissary. What Adjai does not know is that Essyen is a mage and his presence in Avor is tied to a movement that could bring down the laws of the Seven States.
What begins as an arrangement becomes an attraction neither can afford. When Adjai’s own House orders her to spy on the man she is falling for, ambitions, loyalties and desire become dangerously entangled. To secure the future she has spent her life preparing for, Adjai is faced with an impossible choice – to betray the man she is falling in love with, or the world that made her.
Ntumy has reimagined the engines of power in an African matriarchal fantasy through merchant dynasty, creating a world in which the love story is inseparable from the struggle over who gets to wield power.
“Cheryl Ntumy is one of the most gifted comic and romantic voices working in fiction today, and THE SEVEN STATES is her most ambitious, most irresistible work yet. From the moment I entered this world of formidable women, merchant dynasties, forbidden magic and political intrigue, I was hooked. But it is the sensual, slowburning relationship between Adjai and Essyen that gives the series its irresistible charge. Cheryl has created a world you want to disappear into, and two people you desperately want to find their way to each other.” – Boluwatito Sanusi, Assistant Editor, Ankara Press
Author Cheryl Ntumy said: “It’s been such a joy returning to my romance roots with the sexy, colourful, fashion-forward world of the Seven States, where power games are always afoot. I’m excited to be working with Ankara Press to share this series with everyone! I hope the stories bring readers as much pleasure as they bring me. All I can say is — prepare to be titillated. Wink, wink!”
THE SEVEN STATES marks a major new acquisition for Ankara Press as the imprint expands its list of bold commercial fiction by Black writers, for readers everywhere who want intoxicating love stories and unforgettable worlds.