Ada’s Realm
ABOUT
THE BOOK
In a small village in what will become Ghana, Ada gives birth to a baby who does not live. As she grieves for her child, Portuguese traders arrive in the village, an event that will bear terrible repercussions for Ada and her kin. Centuries later, Ada will become the mathematician Ada Lovelace; Ada, a prisoner forced into prostitution in a concentration camp; and Ada, a pregnant Ghanaian woman who arrives in Berlin in 2019 for a fresh start. Ada is not one woman, but many, and she is all women. This debut from Sharon Dodua Otoo paints an astonishing picture of femininity and resilience with deep empathy and infinite imagination.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Jon
Cho-Polizzi
JON CHO-POLIZZI is a literary translator and Assistant Professor of German at the University of Michigan. His translations have appeared in the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Maxim Gorky Theatre, taz and Der Spiegel, as well as in numerous anthologies. He lives and works between Ann Arbor, Northern California and Berlin.
JON CHO-POLIZZI is a literary translator and Assistant Professor of German at the University of Michigan. His translations have appeared in the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Maxim Gorky Theatre, taz and Der Spiegel, as well as in numerous anthologies. He lives and works between Ann Arbor, Northern California and Berlin.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Ada’s Realm is fascinating and powerful novel. Four women, four eras told from an unusual perspective, written by the Bachmann Prize winner Sharon Dodua Otoo.