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Sugar Island
- Author: Sanjida O’Connell
- Category: Fiction Commercial Women’s / Romance
- Publisher: John Murray (UK)
- Pub date: 20 January 2011
- Length: 352 pages
About Sugar Island
1859. Unrest is brewing in the South as Emily, an actress from England, arrives in Georgia to begin life with her new husband Charles.
On arriving, Emily realises that Charles has been keeping a terrible secret from her – he is a slave-owner. On the surface, Emily appears to reconcile herself to his way of life, whereas in reality she finds herself irrevocably caught up in the lives of the slaves - befriending them, and helping them in secret. But as civil war threatens, Emily’s world becomes increasingly divided – and dangerous – and she realises her secret could cost her everything.
Set against the brilliantly realised backdrop of the months leading up to the American Civil War, SUGAR ISLAND is a story of freedom and of loyalty in a time of chaos.
About the Author
As well as presenting NATURE’S CALENDAR and NATURE OF BRITAIN, Sanjida O’Connell has directed three HORIZON documentaries for the BBC, and regularly writes for The Independent and The Telegraph, amongst numerous other newspapers and journals. Her PhD, which concerned Theory of Mind in the higher primates, led to her first two novels, published when in her twenties, THEORY OF MIND (1996) and ANGEL BIRD (1998), as well as her non-fiction works MINDREADING: HOW WE LEARN TO LOVE AND LIE (1998) and SUGAR: THE GRASS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (2004).
She also has a column on the Independent‘s website called Eco Chic: My Year of Dressing Ethically, in which she explores green and glamorous fashion.