Children of Sugarcane

I received a free copy of the Children of Sugarcane through the Early Reviewer's Program at Librarything. It is a historical fiction novel of 19th century India and the British owned sugarcane plantations in Natal, South Africa. The book was published in 2021 in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers. It was then published in the UK in 2022. Author Joanne Joseph is a well known media personality in South Africa and has hosted both radio and television programs there. She previously wrote an expose of prisons in Thailand but this is her first novel. 

The publisher's summary:

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.

I enjoyed reading this book. It is a little different from my usual fare and while it is historical I wonder whether the book should be categorized as literary fiction. The pace was slower than the historical fiction that I usually read. Shanti doesn't arrive in Natal until page 140, a third of the way through the story. I thought this was slow but it wouldn't be for literary fiction. The characters were well drawn and the history of the time and place was detailed. The author was obviously very familiar with what happened on the sugarcane plantations in Natal. She gives us alot of important information about this sad and not well known part of history. For that we can be thankful.

5 out of 5 stars.