Author Reveals Delicate Beauty of Gullah/Geechee Culture in Debut Novel:

 An Ocean of Jewels

 by Judy C. Andrews

     The Harlem Writers Guild Press, an imprint of iUniverse, Inc., introduced readers to the suspenseful, literary novel, An Ocean of Jewels, by new author, Judy C. Andrews at readings and book signings throughout the New York City area in June 2006.

     An Ocean of Jewels is a powerful and inspiring literary journey of one woman's battle to embrace love and her rich Gullah/Geechee heritage.  "It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned that my father spoke the Geechee language," says Ms. Andrews.  She remembers, "I had spent my entire childhood in foster care, and never understood the language my father spoke when I lived with him and my mother before I went into foster care.  When I entered college, I read a novel by brilliant author Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and it opened up a new world for me.  Many of the phrases in the novel were identical to things I grew up hearing my father say, such as 'Tie yuh mout',' 'Don't be actin' so siditty,' and 'Yep, Ah reckon' so!' I wanted to bring that language back in a modern-day manner, and preserve it, just for myself."

     The novel is written in standard, modern English; however, it also captures the beauty of the Gullah/Geechee language.  Ms. Andrews explained that Gullah is the creole language African slaves spoke in America during Slavery along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.  For example, "Dat's up tuh duh notch," is a Gullah phrase that means "That's delicious!"  Geechee is the language the African slaves spoke whenever they were in the presence of people who did not understand the Gullah language.  For example, someone unfamiliar with the Gullah language would still understand the Geechee meaning of this statement, "We haffuh hol on tuh we'own land."

     Ms. Andrews has done more than preserve the language for herself.   In the novel, An Ocean of Jewels, she shares with the reader the language, culture, and history of a Gullah/Geechee community by introducing the reader to the fictional places of Jewel Park, New York and Eva Creek Island--places where the major characters' ancestors lived before they were forced to leave their beautiful country of Sierra Leone to become enslaved.  The modern day characters are rich, passionate and inviting as well as the descriptive scenery and opulence of the neighborhoods.  Other cultural additions in the novel refer to the Gullah/Geechee Island Prayers Houses, worship service, and of course traditional beverages and meals like teacola tea, sweet potato pone, spoonbread, and grilled mullet.

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Judy C. Andrews

Email:  Bubly2u@AOL.com

Web Site:  blessedbrown.com