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.
- ISBN10 1776191862
- ISBN13 9781776191864
- Publish Date 5 May 2022 (first published 21 October 2021)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 19 May 2023
- Publish Country ZA
- Imprint Jonathan Ball Publishers SA
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 368
- Language English