Description

Vividly set against the backdrop of 19th century India and the British-owned sugarcane plantations of Natal, written with great tenderness and lyricism, Children of Sugarcane paints an intimate and wrenching picture of indenture told from a woman’s perspective.

Shanti, a bright teenager stifled by life in rural India and facing an arranged marriage, dreams that South Africa is an opportunity to start afresh. The Colony of Natal is where Shanti believes she can escape the poverty, caste, and the traumatic fate of young girls in her village. Months later, after a harrowing sea voyage, she arrives in Natal and realises life there is full of hardship and labour.

Spanning four decades and two continents, Children of Sugarcane illustrates the lifegiving power of love, the indestructible bonds between family and friends, heroism, and how the ultimate sacrifice becomes Shanti’s greatest redemption.

Publisher Review

In Children of Sugarcane Joanne Joseph blew me away with a remarkable, very special gem of a novel, wonderfully imagined. It captured my heart. Full of lush historical detail, it opened my eyes to a fascinating but brutal world that I knew nothing about and I was spellbound. The writing is luminous in its intensity and the characters are profoundly moving. Heart-warming and heart-breaking, this searing story is a work of immense emotional power. * Kate Furnivall, bestselling author of The Betrayal *