In the coastal town of Ebon Tide in 1897, life is shaped by trade, tradition, and the unyielding rhythm of the sea. When a British warship anchors offshore, bringing new laws and tighter control, seventeen year old Amara Adeyemi finds her world shifting beneath her feet. As census ledgers fill with names and a customs house rises over the harbor, Amara begins to question what it means to be counted, governed, and heard.
Through illness, political tension, and fragile negotiations, she challenges authority not with violence, but with persistence and moral clarity. Opposite her stands Captain Edward Hawthorne, a naval officer bound to empire yet increasingly aware of its cost. As their town balances survival and resistance, both must confront the limits of power and the strength of conscience.
The Lanterns of Ebon Tide is a richly human historical fiction novel about identity, courage, and the quiet revolutions that begin when ordinary people decide their voices matter.
