King Peggy

Peggielene Bartels was an ordinary fifty-something secretary working at the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington DC when she received the unexpected and astonishing news that she had been elected king of the impoverished fishing village of Otuam in her native Ghana half a world away.

Peggy had read about two other female kings in Ghana but it was a rare phenomenon. Her royal dynasty had never had one before. Arriving in Otuam for her crowning ceremony she discovers the dire realities of life there: no running water no doctor no high school and corruption is rife. To make matters worse the body of her uncle the late king lies in a morgue awaiting a funeral in the palace which is in ruins. The longer she waits to bury him the more she risks incurring the wrath of her ancestors.

King Peggy is a charming real-life fairy tale about a traditional African town lifted up by the ambitions of its headstrong decidedly modern female king.