Ada's Room
A Novel
By Sharon Dodua Otoo
Translated by Jon Cho-Polizzi
A kaleidoscopic novel spanning generations and continents, that reveals the connections between four women in their struggle for survival.
About
A woman in 15th century West Africa named Ada buries her child and confronts a Portuguese enslaver. A woman in Victorian England named Ada Lovelace, a mathematical genius and computer programming pioneer, tries to hide her affair with Charles Dickens from her husband. A woman named Ada, imprisoned in a concentration camp at Mittelbau-Dora in 1945, will survive one more day in enforced prostitution. Connected by an unknown but sentient spirit, and a bracelet of fertility beads that each Ada encounters at a pivotal moment in her life, these women share a name and a purpose.
As their interwoven narratives converge on a modern day Ada, a young Ghanaian woman who finds herself pregnant, alone, in Berlin, searching for a home before her baby arrives, their shared spirit will find a way to help her break the vicious cycle of injustice.
This novel is a feat of imagination and breaks down simplistic notions of history as a straight line; one woman’s experience matters to another’s 400 years later, on a different continent. In this deeply moving, at times mordantly funny, ultimately hopeful book, there is a connection between all those fighting for love, for family, for justice, for a home.
Awards & Distinctions
Longlist » Dublin Literary Award 2024
Publications
Villa AuroraBeiträge
Peter Weiss JahrbuchBeiträge
Delfi Gift (Ausgabe 3)Beiträge
Anders bleibenBeiträge
Mahlerstraße 8Beiträge
Una stanza per AdaBuecher
アーダの空間Buecher
Ada's RealmBuecher
Ada's PlekBuecher
Gesammeltes SchweigenBuecher
Adas RaumBuecher
Klasse und KampfBeiträge
Eure Heimat ist unser AlbtraumBeiträge
Zwei NovellenBuecher
SynchronicityBuecher
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Contacts
It makes me so happy when the correct spelling is used! My given names are: Sharon Dodua and my surname is: Otoo. Here is also a » voice recording of my name.
julia.giordano [at] fischerverlage.de
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janina.bradacs [at] fischerverlage.de
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alfio.furnari [at] landwehr-cie.de
Literature Agency
bookings [at] sharonotoo.com
Miscellaneous