Trouble in Paradise

Besides being a mystery novel, Nilima Rao's A Disappearance in Fiji is also a critique of the indenture system

- Bhaichand Patel

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.