FIJI, FICTION

Sugar
Edward Narain & Tarryn Phillips

This is an ethnographic novel set in Suva, the capital of Fiji. The book follows three strangers, Hannah a young Australian expat, Isikeli a teenager from a settlement and Rishika, an Indo-Fijian historian who put her career on hold when she got married. It is a murder mystery that deals with some uncomfortable truths that exist in Fiji. Fiji is a beautiful country brimming with islands and beaches but the capital of Fiji, Suva, is quite different to this idyllic scene. This novel gives a small insight into the people who live in Fiji, the indigenous iTaukei people, the Indo-Fijian (or Fijian Indians) who make up a a large portion of the population and first came to Fiji in the late 1800s as indentured workers and the expat population who stay both short and long term. The novel shares a side to Fiji that you may not experience when lying on the beach sipping cocktails, but is very telling of what Fiji is like for some. 

Recommended by Rhiannon.