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Zobi Fredrick is seeking a publisher for an unusual and true autobiographical story. A part-time resident of Clearwater, she is a former fashion model who was born in Trinidad in an Islamic family that originated in India. From ancestors who worked in as indentured servants in British-owned cane fields, her book traces her family history, particularly focusing on her father’s life.
“My father was educated in the colonial way of life by the British,” she said. “I am a Trinidad-born American citizen settled down with my husband and two children in New Jersey. I was educated in London with a Business Administrative Degree and my occupation was that of a print and fashion model.”
Her story relates how her well-educated father began a successful wholesale fabric business at the age of 25. He left his business to follow a religious calling, a dream of building a mosque for his fellow Muslims. The structure is now a well-known attraction in the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, called the Jinnah Memorial Mosque. However, the building of the mosque turned from a triumph for the family to an insult because of the shunning of her father by Muslim elders, Fredrick said.
“This work is painstaking in documenting this true story. It is alive, definitely dramatic, clear and exceptionally moving. My research into this story has never been told before and now must be unfolded because of its powerful and unique history of past times that were unknown to people all over the globe,” she said.
Like many aspiring writers, Fredrick is exploring the world of query letters, researching the pros and cons of self-publishing and wary of vanity publishers.
“I have learned there are a lot of con artists,” she said of her efforts.
“I trust that you will see this book as not just my own family’s journey but in a large measure indicative of the struggles, successes and failures of the many thousands of Indians who came to the New World as indentured laborers and worked so hand to become successful. Our story is largely unknown in America. It is alive and I have tried to make the story inspirational and full of human kindness.”
She believes the story has particular importance today because so many Americans have limited understanding of the great variations within the Muslim faith and the rigidity of some groups within the faith.
“It is not about terrorism, but it does help explain why we have Al Qaeda,” she said.
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