As the Napoleonic Wars are coming to an end, Sarah Barker sails from Portsmouth, England with her new husband on a voyage that brings violent storms and an attack by an American privateer. They are bound for South Africa, where they will serve as missionaries to the indigenous Khoi.
Two centuries later, Judith Krummeck, Sarah’s great-great-granddaughter and a new immigrant to America, sets out to search for Sarah. Through diaries, letters, archives, and visits to the mission stations in South Africa, Sarah’s story takes shape, and issues like colonialism, evangelism, and apartheid come into focus through the lens of hindsight. What unfolds in Old New Worlds is a love story of sorts, as Judith is drawn to her protagonist by a deepening emotional bond.
Judith is a writer and broadcaster living in Baltimore. She programs and hosts a live, five-hour air shift weekdays for Maryland’s classical music station, WBJC 91.5 FM. She also produces a monthly segment called Booknotes, and she conducts interviews with artists who have ranged from Placido Domingo to Joshua Bell. Judith’s work has been published by Baltimore Style; literary journals such as Welter and Passager; and online publications including Atticus Review and Baltimore Fishbowl.
