I Wanted People to Know She Existed: An Interview with Sarah Raughley
January 20, 2025
“How could history forget that Britain once had an African princess? I felt like I needed to tell her story.” – Sarah Raughley
claire francis interviews SArah raughley about her new book, The queen’s spade.
Sarah Raughley is the Nigerian-Canadian author of The Effigies series and The Bones of Ruin trilogy. An Aurora Awards finalist, Raughley is also an English professor and public intellectual who has written for outlets such as The Walrus, CBC, and Teen Vogue. Her creative work is inspired by a messy confluence of experiences, from being a huge, fangirly blerd to a postcolonial researcher and academic. Her latest work, The Queen’s Spade, is available everywhere on January 14th. A departure from her previous fantasy-based material for young adults, this novel reimagines the life of Sarah Bonetta Forbes–Queen Victoria’s real-life African goddaughter. To find out more about Raughley and her work, visit sarahraughley.com.
Claire Francis: I want to begin by saying thank you for bringing Ina’s–aka Sarah Forbes Bonetta’s–story to a brand-new audience. I can’t help but notice that in the past you’ve mainly worked on fantasy novels. Could you please tell me a bit about what inspired you to explore Forbes Bonetta’s life story? How did you first discover her?
Sarah Raughley: I actually was researching 19th century England for my Simon & Schuster YA Fantasy trilogy, The Bones of Ruin. Those books were inspired by the tragic story of Sara Baartman, an African woman taken from South Africa to Europe and put on display in Piccadilly, London, like an animal in a zoo. Thinking about her time in London in the 1800s made me want to do more research on Black communities and Black life in Victorian London. That’s when I came across Sarah Forbes Bonetta. Believe me, I was shocked to find out that Queen Victoria had an African goddaughter who was a princess! I’d been into steampunk and read YA set in the 19th century in the past and yet never came across her!
Sarah was treated as a huge deal at the time and then systematically erased from history almost as soon as she died. How could history forget that Britain once had an African princess? I felt like I needed to tell her story. I wanted people to know that she existed. But I also wanted to present her in a way that was transgressive and reflected how she was used as a tool of British propaganda, then quickly and cruelly thrown away. My Ina doesn’t go quietly into that good night.
CF: Moving from the fantastical into the real world, what elements of your writing do you feel are common to both genre fiction and historical fiction?
SR: This is such a great question! Actually, I think fantastical fiction was what taught me about stakes and conflict and tension! I want The Queen’s Spade to feel like a fantastical adventure even if there are no fantasy elements. And that means thrilling battles, even if they are psychological. It also means a lot of world building and lore. This time, instead of inventing the lore, I’m taking it right from history and mixing that in with external and internal conflict, the stakes and the character building. They may not have powers, but these are young people fighting for their lives in an unfamiliar environment where any manner of danger can ruin their best laid plans. Fantasy taught me that.
It’s been interesting to see the evolution of my career. I started out writing contemporary fantasy, then historical fantasy, now historical thriller. And through it all, I’ve realized how genres bleed into, and borrow from each other. What works in a thriller can also work in a mystery or a contemporary romance!
CF: Let’s consider the role of fact vs speculation when writing based on non-fiction source material. What sort of challenges did you face as you worked on The Queen’s Spade?
“I hope that by drawing attention to some of the more insidious aspects of Sarah’s true story, and depicting it as a revenge thriller, I can challenge some of the propagandistic portrayals of such an interesting woman.”
SR: Sarah Forbes Bonetta was a real person. She had real feelings and every once in a while, through a letter and a journal entry here and there, you can get a glimpse into how she really feels about things. But history mostly erased that. She was mostly known through the propaganda Britain spread about her in newspapers and the like. They were speaking over her.
On one hand, I didn’t like that by interpreting her journey in my own way, I was kind of putting words in her mouth – I was speaking over her. Sarah Forbes Bonetta named her first child Victoria after the Queen of England, so clearly she didn’t hate her–unless this was another sign of the psychological costs of forced assimilation and forced loyalty to the Crown. Still, at her wedding, she signed her true African name, Ina Omoba, on the marriage registry. We can only speculate – was it an act of resistance?
Sarah is an interesting figure to me. So instead of claiming that I know what was in her mind, instead of trying to speak for her or claim my interpretation is her real story, I wrote a story inspired by Sarah and her circumstances to draw attention to the tensions that were already at play in her life. My interpretation of Sarah is less a historical biography and more of a fictional account meant to explore what may have been left hidden. And I think that’s what fiction allows you to do. I hope that by drawing attention to some of the more insidious aspects of Sarah’s true story, and depicting it as a revenge thriller, I can challenge some of the propagandistic portrayals of such an interesting woman.
CF: What has been the most rewarding thing for you about writing this book?
SR: The reviews have been really great so far and that might be a bit narcissistic but hey, it’s great as a writer to know that you’re growing and getting better at your craft. I don’t want to stay in one space. I want to keep improving. When I published my first book, I didn’t really know what I was doing and didn’t have a whole lot of editorial guidance. I remember the sting of getting negative reviews. And of course, criticism is part of a writer’s life, but you want to get to a spot in your career when you can look at your finished product, your writing, your vision come to fruition and say wow I’m better than I was ten years ago. And that’s what I was able to do after reading the final passes of The Queen’s Spade. I’m so happy that others see what I see and I’m going to do my darndest to continue to grow.
“Black people in Europe in the 19th or 18th centuries had some really complex and at times devastating sociopolitical situations to navigate. We don’t do anyone any favors by burying that history. All we do is create the conditions in which we continue into the future without learning the proper lessons from the past. So while fantasy escapism is important, so is the truth.”
CF: Prior to Bridgerton and works such as the movie Belle, there’s been a lack of BIPOC characters within media that depicts high society in certain eras of history. What are your thoughts on the importance of authentic representation within these powerful circles of the past?
SR: Bridgerton has its importance in media. Its colourblind approach to European period stories offers a much needed escape for a lot of BIPOC women who just want to be in the fantasy – the romantasy dare I say. And sometimes we need that. But sometimes the truth is needed as well. Black people in Europe in the 19th or 18th centuries had some really complex and at times devastating sociopolitical situations to navigate. We don’t do anyone any favors by burying that history. All we do is create the conditions in which we continue into the future without learning the proper lessons from the past. So while fantasy escapism is important, so is the truth.
Why was Sarah Forbes Bonetta’s history buried? There’s something insidious about the way Britain, which used her for propaganda, threw her away once it was done with her. And how does that speak to Britain’s issues with multiculturalism now? If we know the truth, we can learn from it and move forward in a progressive and egalitarian way. And that’s what I hope we can achieve through these books that, while fun, exciting and spicy, still ask some pretty complex questions about the past.
CF: Whether you’re among fans or fellow authors, there are different ways of being involved with the literary community. Can you share any insights into how engaging with your peers or fan community has shaped your journey as an author?
SR: It’s been great connecting to other Black women, especially Black Canadians and Africans. When I first started my career, I had no idea where to find community. I went on an online forum that was mostly filled with white boomers. They had some great advice in terms of how to create a query letter and so on, but when it came to encouraging a young Black writer, they didn’t have the tools. They said some pretty screwed up things that came from ignorance. But I was so young, insecure and alone, I started to believe them.
Social media can be a horrible trap. I think especially nowadays, it makes people more miserable than anything else. But the one good thing about social media is that it has actually connected me with other Black and BIPOC women writers who have given me much better advice, who’ve gone through the same barriers and have continued to support and encourage me throughout my career. Not just writers but bloggers and readers as well. It’s the only reason why I don’t delete my apps!
CF: Sarah, what’s next for you as a writer?
SR: The Queen’s Spade will have a sequel, so I’m working on that right now and I’m excited about it! On top of that, I want to try my hand at different genres of writing, from short stories, to nonfiction, to graphic novels. But that’ll be while I’m figuring out my next Young Adult work. I want to get back to writing fantasy that gives readers an epic adventure, like my two trilogies, The Effigies series and The Bones of Ruin. Maybe I should go back to seeing if I have a little magic left in me! Either way, expect to continue seeing Black girls doing incredible things.
Claire Francis is a writer from southern Ontario, Canada. Her work has been shared both on and offline, in publications such as THIS Magazine, Toronto Life, and Healthline. She’s always loved the written word, and is currently exploring the literary side of her craft.