While not much is known about the life and legacy of Anna de Koning, this children’s book aims to make her a household name and have her story taught at schools – of how an enslaved child arrived in the Cape Colony from Bengal and would remarkably become one of the wealthiest and most influential women of her time.

Anna lived in a village surrounded by a thick rainforest filled with striped tigers that roared at night. Her mother had grown up in that village, and she would have too until strangers came and sold her family to the captain of a big ship with large white sails. When the ship finally arrived at the shores of the Cape of Good Hope, Anna’s life changed, and she was no longer free.

Woman of Freedom brings to life the historically accurate journey of a young enslaved girl who became one of the wealthiest and most respected women in the early Cape Colony.

Teaching children about one of South Africa’s matriarchs in an inspiring narrative true to the culture and history of our land.