Trouble in Paradise
India Today|December 11, 2023
Besides being a mystery novel, Nilima Rao's A Disappearance in Fiji is also a critique of the indenture system
Bhaichand Patel
Trouble in Paradise

A DISAPPEARANCE IN FIJI by Nilima Rao BONNIER BOOKS ₹399; 288 pages

Kunti is a labourer on one of the sugar plantations in Fiji, as is her husband. One A day, she disappears from the 'coolie' lines leaving the family behind. A Sikh police officer based in Suva, the capital, is put on her case. Has the pretty young woman eloped, has she been kidnapped, or even possibly murdered?

Nilima Rao's A Disappearance in Fiji is a page turner, an impressive debut novel. The author describes herself as 'culturally confused', being ethnically Indian, born in Fiji and living in Australia from the age of three. This is a mystery novel, but it also pays homage to the country of her birth, where her ancestors arrived from India as indentured labourers to work in the plantations owned by Australians.

This story is from the December 11, 2023 edition of India Today.

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This story is from the December 11, 2023 edition of India Today.

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