The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
specialk136's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those stories you couldn't have made up if you tried. Peggy is a secretary for the Ghana embassy living in Washington DC when she gets a call in the middle of the night telling her that her uncle, the king of her village of 7,000 people, has died. The new king? It's her.
Peggy flies to her village and discovers a town without running water, a royal palace crumbling in disrepair, and her treasury dried up. With her own money she starts to make repairs to the palace and starts trying to improve life in her village. But it doesn't take her long to learn that her council of elders, the ones who are supposed to be helping run the village, not only don't respect her, but can't be trusted. Who can she trust? How can she rule effectively when she can only spend a few weeks a year in her village? In the end, Peggy turns out to be the perfect person for the job.
This is the kind of story I would never have picked up on my own, but I saw recommendations for it online and decided to pick it up. I couldn't believe the amount of treachery she had to deal with and how she pushed through despite it. It's a very inspiring story.
4.5 stars
Peggy flies to her village and discovers a town without running water, a royal palace crumbling in disrepair, and her treasury dried up. With her own money she starts to make repairs to the palace and starts trying to improve life in her village. But it doesn't take her long to learn that her council of elders, the ones who are supposed to be helping run the village, not only don't respect her, but can't be trusted. Who can she trust? How can she rule effectively when she can only spend a few weeks a year in her village? In the end, Peggy turns out to be the perfect person for the job.
This is the kind of story I would never have picked up on my own, but I saw recommendations for it online and decided to pick it up. I couldn't believe the amount of treachery she had to deal with and how she pushed through despite it. It's a very inspiring story.
4.5 stars
theonionboy's review
3.0
Wow, that was a marathon. The audiobook took me over 3 months to finish, when most take only 2 weeks. It was WAY, WAY, WAY TOO LONG! Almost all audiobooks I listen to are about 7 hours. This was 14, but felt like 100. It needs to be edited WAY down to about 3-4 hours.
Many reviewers complained about the quality of the writing. I didn’t notice that.
The good: the story was very interesting and told well. The narrator was amazing, doing different voices and accents for each person. She never stumbled over difficult pronunciations. Even though at times I could detect little signs that she was not a seasoned book narrator, she still did a great job.
To be honest, what they call a king really should just translate into mayor in my way of thinking as an American.
Still, I have to admire all that Penny did for her community. She truly gave more of her personal time and finances than anyone would ever expect. Her love for her people shows.
One thing really irritated me: the constant refusal to punish flagrant serious crimes in any way whatsoever, just because the perpetrator was a distant relative. They boast of police chiefs who have no work to do because there just isn’t any crime there, then show on example after another of serious crimes that are unquestionably proven but blatantly ignored. The jails should not be so empty.
If you have a strong sense of justice, this book will really frustrate you more than it is worth.
Many reviewers complained about the quality of the writing. I didn’t notice that.
The good: the story was very interesting and told well. The narrator was amazing, doing different voices and accents for each person. She never stumbled over difficult pronunciations. Even though at times I could detect little signs that she was not a seasoned book narrator, she still did a great job.
To be honest, what they call a king really should just translate into mayor in my way of thinking as an American.
Still, I have to admire all that Penny did for her community. She truly gave more of her personal time and finances than anyone would ever expect. Her love for her people shows.
One thing really irritated me: the constant refusal to punish flagrant serious crimes in any way whatsoever, just because the perpetrator was a distant relative. They boast of police chiefs who have no work to do because there just isn’t any crime there, then show on example after another of serious crimes that are unquestionably proven but blatantly ignored. The jails should not be so empty.
If you have a strong sense of justice, this book will really frustrate you more than it is worth.
bonhomiebooks's review against another edition
4.0
Draw dropping. Couldn't believe this was a true story. From start to finish you will be entertained and going "Is this for real?"
llkendrick's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent book that I just happened upon at the library last week. One of the reviews compared it to The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, which I really enjoyed. I was skeptical of this because that book was fiction and this is nonfiction, but it turned out to be a pretty accurate review! Peggy is such a wonderful person to get to know throughout this book and what she was able to do to a small village in Ghana was amazing. I would highly recommend this book!
shannanh's review against another edition
5.0
I read this for our book club meeting. I'm kinda surprised that I liked it. A real life fairy tale of an American Secretary who finds out that she is to become an African "King". Great story and plot line
kfreedman's review against another edition
This book was clearly ghost written. A Ghanaian woman who has moved to the US becomes chief of her village and then sets things to right. Gave some cool insight into Ghanaian culture, but was a bit predictable.
bryng's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating read.
I had heard about this story when I saw King Peggy being interviewed on a talk show, I forget which one right now. This is a fascinating story about life in rural Africa and the trials and tribulations of going about trying to improve life there. It does make you grateful for the life we have here in America when you hear about people in 2010 having to get water from a dirty hole or not having access to a doctor. Thank goodness the ancestors picked to King Peggy to help her people.
I had heard about this story when I saw King Peggy being interviewed on a talk show, I forget which one right now. This is a fascinating story about life in rural Africa and the trials and tribulations of going about trying to improve life there. It does make you grateful for the life we have here in America when you hear about people in 2010 having to get water from a dirty hole or not having access to a doctor. Thank goodness the ancestors picked to King Peggy to help her people.