In the late 1730s an unknown East Indiaman smashed to pieces on the reefs pf Lambasi Bay on South Africa's Wild Coast. Next mo r ning the local inhabitants stumbled upon Bessie, a seven- year old English girl huddled beside a rock on the beach.

She was not the first to be shipwrecked on these treacherous sho r es. Many befo r e her had starved to death, o r been killed o r cannibalised,some walked hundreds of miles to trading posts. But these locals chose to take Bessie home a nd bring her up as one of their own. She grew to be a woman of legendary beauty a nd wisdom, eventually becoming the Great Wife of a prince. So began the enduring legacy of a dynasty that extends to many of today's Xhosa families.

Using the o r al histo r ies of the tribes, a nd written accounts by early missionaries a nd traders who met Bessie's gra ndchildren, Hazel Crampton traces the sto r y of Bessie a nd her descendants throughout the turbulent histo r y of the Eastern Cape until the present day.

'The Sunburnt Queen is an extrao r dinary narrative...the writing's fresh immediacy brings histo r y to life.' Sunday Independent, South Africa

Hazel Crampton is an artist. She lives in Cape Town, wh ere she is wo r king on her second book.