King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village by Peggielene Bartels and Eleanor Herman

"King Peggy" is a book that I saw at the library several months ago and it screamed at me to read it.  The front cover is so bold and bright and then when I read the synopsis, I knew that I wanted to read it.  Here is how Amazon.com describes it:   "King Peggy chronicles the astonishing journey of American secretary, Peggielene Bartels, who suddenly finds herself king to a town of 7,000 people on Ghana's central coast, half a world away. Upon arriving for her crowning ceremony in beautiful Otuam, she discovers the dire reality: there's no running water, no doctor, no high school, and many of the village elders are stealing the town's funds. To make matters worse, her uncle (the late king) sits in a morgue awaiting a proper funeral in the royal palace, which is in ruins. Peggy's first two years as king of Otuam unfold in a way that is stranger than fiction. In the end, a deeply traditional African town is uplifted by the ambitions of its decidedly modern female king, and Peggy is herself transformed, from an ordinary secretary to the heart and hope of her community."

It was a fascinating book that made the little tiny town on Otuam so real and vivid.  I feel like I really was there with her in Ghana and really became emotionally invested in her struggles and heart aches.  One reason that I love reading so much is that there are so many places that I know that I'll just never get to see.  Reading is away of 'visiting' those places and being there 'in spirit' instead of in person.  This is one of those books.  I'll most likely never visit Otuam or even Africa, but how amazing that through a book I can gain such insight and feel like in some ways I've traveled there.

As interesting as this book was, and as much as I loved learning about such a different country and culture, I felt bored at times and wanted to get through this book to get onto other books.  I think that it was more the frame of mind I was in while reading this, and not necessarily the quality of the book.  I just didn't find myself anxious to dive right back into it.  Again, I think I was just not in the best mood to read it.

Here are a few quotes I liked:

"God alone makes kings"

"In recent years, Americans had invented many new buttons...to stay connected with people, yet these same buttons actually disconnected them from the people sitting right beside them, or from family members in the next room.  Virtual, remote control connection destroyed human connection, and she sensed that many Americans were, despite their hectic schedules, lonely."

"Bad behavior walks hand in hand with its own punishment."

Stars:  3 1/2

Prude Police:  Only a few baby swear words and some slightly crude talk here and there.