Scurrying across Stanford's Quad, Brenna was shocked-suddenly she just knew she was going to Africa. It's the height of the Black Pride Movement and, unbeknownst to her, the Watts Summer Festival boldly decided to send its next Miss Watts to Africa, a metaphor of return, to mend the hearts of descendants of Africans kidnapped from their homeland centuries ago.
Her intuition proves true. In Ethiopia, Brenna has an audience with living legend Emperor Haile Selassie. Impressed with her, the emperor arranges a meeting with his grandson, Prince Yohannes "John" Makonnen, sparking a passionate courtship and a promise it will take a lifetime to honor.
Millennia earlier, young Princess Makeda begins her reign as the Queen of Sheba. Compelled to meet King Solomon, it will change her world and bind the lands of Ethiopia and Judah forever. Brenna and Makeda are separated by a gulf of time-one from a humble background and one from royal lineage. Yet they're connected by the similarities of their destinies and the ancient land of their birth.
A poignant, spiritual story of love and coming of age, Woven into the Fabric is based, in part, on author Tsehai Essiebea Farrell's experiences with Emperor Selassie and his family.
About the Author: Tsehai Essiebea Farrell's life story provided the inspiration for Woven into the Fabric.While studying at Stanford University, she won the Miss Watts Beauty Pageant and was sent as a goodwill ambassador to five African countries.
In Ethiopia, Farrell met Emperor Haile Selassie, an encounter that led to her engagement to the emperor's grandson, the Duke of Harrar. Farrell's wedding plans were shattered by the 1974 military coup in Ethiopia. The royal family, including her fiancé, were imprisoned or executed.
In addition to Woven into the Fabric, Farrell is the author of TOR: Transformation of Race. In 2007, she returned to Ethiopia for the first time since the coup with the Stanford Alumni Travel Expedition.
During her prior marriage to Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Farrell (ret), they had one daughter. Farrell and her daughter hold dual citizenship in the United States and Israel.
She currently lives in Los Angeles.
