"The Black Queen of Diamonds"

Available in EPUB, MOBI, and PDF formats. Read on your Kindle, phone, tablet, computer and more

Francisca da Silva de Oliveira (immortalized as “Chica da Silva”) was born nameless to an African slave, her life seemingly predestined for hardship and obscurity. Yet, her story is one that shatters preconceptions, a saga where diamonds and a black slave intertwine in an extraordinary dance of fate. In a society rigidly defined by race and class, Chica was an enigma, a sensual black woman who commanded the attention and desire of Brazil’s powerful white men. Against all odds, she ascended from the shackles of slavery to become a living legend, a queen in all but name during Eighteenth-Century Colonial Brazil. Her children? They walked the halls of Brazil’s and Europe’s most prestigious schools, a living testament to her audacity. Chica da Silva left behind a legacy that is as contentious as it is awe-inspiring. She’s been celebrated in poems, films, and songs, but her story also confronts Brazil’s deeply ingrained racial taboos head-on. Uncover the life of the Black Queen of Diamonds—a woman who turned societal norms into stepping stones on her path to immortality.