蜜芽传媒

It's a little know fact that following the end of slavery in the British Empire the practice of contracting labourers to plantations where sugar could be grown across the Caribbean, and other suitably tropical colonies, began.

A new book highlights this virtually secret history of indentured labour in South Africa. Indentured labour is a form of contracted work for a period of time, sometimes without a salary.

Spanning four decades and two continents, Children of Sugarcane - written by the South African author Joanne Joseph - is set in 19th Century colonial India and the British-owned sugarcane fields of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa.

This historical fiction paints an intimate story of indenture from a woman鈥檚 perspective.

Newsday's Karnie Sharp, who is herself of South African-Indian descent, spoke to author Joanne Joseph about what inspired her to write the book and her own family history.

(Pic: Archive image of workers arriving on a boat in South Africa ; Credit: Capital Newspapers)

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