Ada's Realm by Sharon Dodua Otoo

Loading player...
Thanks for clicking play on Pagecast, a book-centred podcast series brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers.

In this episode, author and historian Mphuthumi Ntabeni chats with Sharon Dodua Otoo, regarding her latest book Ada's Realm!

In a small village in West Africa, in what will one day become Ghana, Ada gives birth again, and again the baby does not live.

As she grieves the loss of her child, Portuguese traders become the first white men to arrive in the village, an event that will bear terrible repercussions for Ada and her kin.

Centuries later, Ada will become the mathematical genius Ada Lovelace; Ada, a prisoner forced into prostitution in a Nazi concentration camp; and Ada, a young, pregnant Ghanaian woman with a new British passport who arrives in Berlin in 2019 for a fresh start.

Ada is not one woman but many, and she is all women - she revolves in orbits, looping from one century and from one place to the next.
14 May 2023 English South Africa Books · Society & Culture

Other recent episodes

OBF 2025: Wamuwi Mbao interviews Foluso Agbaje (The Parlour Wife)

Pagecast was at the 2025 Open Book Festival, where we spoke with authors about their writing journeys and the stories they share with readers. In this first episode, Wamuwi Mbao interviews Foluso Agbaje about her moving novel, The Parlour Wife. Set in Lagos in 1939 during the start of World…
9 Sep 17 min

Behind Prison Walls by Edwin Cameron, Rebecca Gore and Sohela Surajpal

In this episode of Pagecast, Shaun de Waal interviews Justice Edwin Cameron about his book, Behind Prison Walls. More about the book: Since the Zuma presidency weakened crime intelligence, violent crime surged, with murder rates rising over 75%. South Africa faces severe femicide, and most murderers evade justice. Prisons fail…
31 Aug 40 min

The Shadow State by Jeff Wicks

This week on Pagecast, Qaanitah Hunter is in conversation with Jeff Wicks to talk about his new book, The Shadow State. More about the book: On 23 August 2021, a quiet, hardworking single mom was shot down as she drove home. Her name was Babita Deokaran, chief accountant at the…
24 Aug 39 min

These Heavy Black Bones by Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell

In this episode of Pagecast, Keanan Hemmonsbey interviews Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell about her prize-winning memoir, These Heavy Black Bones. More about the book: This is not a story about making history. Rebecca Achieng Ajulu-Bushell was once a double British Champion and the first Black woman ever to swim for Great…
17 Aug 31 min

Rubies and Rain by Busisekile Khumalo

This week we have the incredible Sue Nyathi chatting with Busisekile Khumalo to discuss her novel, "Rubies and Rain." More about the book: Ruby has to deal with the news of her father’s death and her sex scandal simultaneously trending on social media. Vimbai has been captured and Nosihle returns…
27 Jul 32 min