The Long Way Home is an historical fiction novel written by Kevin Bannister. Thomas Peters and Murphy Steele had little in common, except for the circumstances they found themselves in. Murphy had no memories of a past life aside from his life as a slave. The schoolteacher he had been assigned to help had taught him to read and write and gave him an idea of where he was living now and where his people had come from; she would tutor him after the white children’s lessons were finished. Then he was taken from the schoolhouse and assigned to help the cook with kitchen work, and his education was over. He was out chopping wood with a blunt and rusty ax when the older Thomas explained how to hone the ax with a stone and some oil. Thomas was the son of an African king whose brother had betrayed him and arranged for his son’s capture by slavers. When Thomas came out to where Murphy was working one day and said "Let’s go," Murphy found himself walking away from the Richardson estate in search of freedom. Their escape was cut short the next day when bounty hunters found them and dragged them back to the estate where they were whipped the following day. It was only the first time they would try for freedom, and they would risk everything, including their lives, to do that.

Kevin Bannister’s historical fiction novel, The Long Way Home, is an epic work that follows the two historical figures, Peters and Steele, as they work to escape their bonds and sign on with the English army forces during the American Revolution. I was mesmerized by the intensity and power of this work that brings to light heroes I hadn’t known about. It exposes the injustices that followed the black veterans from the United States up into Nova Scotia, where the promises of land and help with getting started were soon found to be empty promises, and they became fodder for more exploitation. Those sections of the novel that dealt with their early efforts in Digby, Nova Scotia are marvelous! I loved reading about Steele’s logging ventures and his interactions with the Bear River Mi’kmaq tribe, and I kept a map of Nova Scotia on hand to follow Steele and Peters’ movement. Bannister’s writing is lyrical and elegant, at times I would feel compelled to stop and reread an especially memorable passage. I learned a lot from reading The Long Way Home and plan on looking for historical works regarding this overlooked episode in American history. The Long Way Home is most highly recommended.

How unsettling it must feel to one day be living a life of royalty, to another day be betrayed by a loved one. The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister is a fictional story based on true accounts of the life of Adekola Akande, whose name means determination. Adekola was living a good life in his country, he was set to be married, and looking forward to raising a family. Then the unthinkable happened - he was captured and sold as a slave. In captivity, Adekola was later given a slave name, Thomas Peters. Thomas became friends with Murphy Steele; they had one thing in common, to run away from the plantation and become free men. Due to Thomas’ upbringing, he never knew defeat and definitely not the life of a slave. However, for Murphy, all he ever knew was being a slave. Initially, Murphy could not understand the burning desire to be free that Thomas possessed. Murphy wanted to know what freedom was and what were the benefits of being free? In Murphy’s friendship with Thomas, he began to learn more about life, dreaming, and freedom than he ever could imagine.

The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister is a well-written, historical account of the life of Adekola Akande (Thomas Peters). Kevin truly opened my eyes to a part of history that had escaped me - not about the hunt, the capture or slavery, but the history of Africans that lived a life of royalty, culture, and that of kings and queens. A lot of stories about slavery are not told from this perspective, nor about the other elements that Africans played for the betterment of the world. I fell in love with this story from the beginning. As the story developed, Kevin interjected history and culture, as told through Thomas, that gave the story not only a relevance to history, but a face of another life in another time. Everyone has a culture that identifies who they are and what they represent, but The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister takes the story to another level. This is because Thomas was one of the Black Loyalists Founding Fathers of Sierra Leone that was instrumental in the fight for freedom and ending slavery. If you are looking for a great historical yet true account of culture, freedom and history, The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister is a keeper.

Kevin Bannister’s The Long Way Home chronicles the lives of two forgotten heroes, Thomas Peters and Murphy Steele, black slaves whose bodies bore the marks of their repeated attempts to escape from their cruel masters. Kidnapped by slave traders, Thomas was an African prince who tended to use his brain while Murphy used his muscles in their fight for freedom. After many escape attempts, the two men end up in Wilmington where the rebelling Americans are putting up resistance to their British masters. As the conflict escalates, they become sergeants in the Black Pioneers where Murphy distinguishes himself.

The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister takes us back to the 18th century when blacks were fleeing colonial America as slaves or freemen, and later settled in Nova Scotia. The main protagonists, Thomas Peters and Murphy Steele, are historical figures who lived during this time. Stripped of their dignity, the two black slaves never gave up hope that one day they would regain their freedom. Fast paced and poignant, this is a story that reveals an element of America’s darkest past when black slaves were treated like beasts of burden. Towards the end of the American War of Independence, when many Black Loyalists fled and relocated in the British colony of Nova Scotia, Canada, the two men continue to fight for something many of us take for granted today: freedom. This novel is a tribute to these two forgotten heroes who made it possible for blacks to live and thrive in Canada up to this day.