Banned upon its first publication in Mauritius, winner of the prestigious Commonwealth Prize for Best Novel in Africa, this stylistically radical novel is both starkly modern in its conception and reminiscent of ancient myth in its captivating narrative and allegorical power. Deftly blending oral and literary traditions, Collen has crafted a short epic that evokes legacies of oppression and resistance--of women, of cultures, and of nations.

Through the intersecting frames of Indian, African, and European cultures that make up the tiny African island nation of Mauritius emerges Sita--a...

A novel of Africa.

Sita is a strong woman, a living legend in Mauritian society. She has also buried a secret that threatens to overwhelm her very self. Raped by a friend eight years before, Sita's search to come to terms with her past extends beyond her physical violation to encompass other forms of oppression.

In a prison cell built for two, their stomachs growling with hunger, Juna, Leila and Mama Gracienne begin to tell each other their stories, the crimes for which they stand condemned, and to exchange recipes to keep the hunger at bay. This is a hypnotic story about the kinship between women and of justice, in its various forms.