FT. MEYERS, Fla. – As interracial marriages become more commonplace and accepted but still face scrutiny from bigoted groups, author Anita Katherine Dennis shares her own story of how God helped her sustain her own interracial and intercultural marriage, especially as she served as the chief’s wife in a remote Liberian village.
Her memoir, “Beyond Myself: The Farm Girl and the African Chief,” details the extremes of her life with her husband. As a chief’s wife, she slept in mud huts but dined with the Liberian president in mansions. She was carried on a chief’s hammock through the forest then flew first-class on transatlantic excursions.
Dennis also recounts the racism she and her husband experienced and stresses that love knows no color or culture. “When I was dating my husband, family and religion tried to keep me away from him, but thankfully I ignored that and lived a wonderful life with him by my side,” Dennis said. “We live in a different time nowadays. Things are getting better, but we still have work to do.”
Kirkus Reviews describes “Beyond Myself” as “a cleareyed memoir about navigating fraught relationships and other cultures… [Dennis is] a storyteller with a keen eye for detail and fully re-creates the complexities of her marriage and the exciting challenges she faced in Africa.”
Readers are sure to be touched by Dennis’ unique love story and feel empowered to love whoever their heart desires.
“Beyond Myself: The Farm Girl and the African Chief”
Anita Katherine Dennis earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in anthropology from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1973. She was accepted into her husband’s Mende tribe, lived in his village, and served as a lay missionary. Dennis co-authored “Slaves to Racism: An Unbroken Chain from America to Liberia.” She is a follower of Jesus Christ in the Lutheran tradition.