ThePrisoner of Paradise

For fans of E.M. Forster, Rohinton Mistry, V.S. Naipaul, Jean Rhys and Peter CareyRomesh Gunesekera has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Guardian Fiction PrizeA lyrical, beguiling story of slavery, freedom, identity and forbidden love and a dazzling insight into Mauritius under British and French colonial ruleRomesh Gunesekera is the author of four novels: Reef, which was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Guardian Fiction Prize, The Sandglass, winner of the inaugural BBC Asia Award, Heaven's Edge, shortlisted for a Commonwealth Writers Prize and a New York Times Notable Book, and The Match. He has also written two collections of short stories: his acclaimed debut Monkfish Moon and a bilingual limited edition book O Colleccionador de Especiarias. He grew up in Sri Lanka and the Philippines and now lives in London. He first visited Mauritius in 1998 where he discovered the beginnings of this novel.When Lucy Gladwell arrives in Mauritius from England to live with her aunt and uncle in their grand plantation house, her mind is full of the poems of Keats and tales of romance . She is nonetheless unprepared for the beauty, fecundity and otherness of this island paradise between Africa and India, where she is to be waited on hand and foot by servants and free to let her thoughts drift on the sea breeze. If only they did not drift to such problematic subjects as the restrictions of colonial society, or the bigoted outbursts of her uncle, or the disquieting attractions of Don Lambodar, a young translator from Ceylon, himself entangled in thoughts of iniquity and desire and facing a decision which could risk his precarious position. Under the surface there is growing unease. For it is 1825: Britain has wrested power from France and is shipping convict labour across the Indian Ocean. The age of slavery is coming to its messy end. Word is lapping against the shores of the island - of revolts in Europe and the Americas, and of a charismatic new Indian leader who will shine the light of liberty. For Lucy, for Don, for everyone on the island, a devastating storm is coming... In this bold novel of intimate passions and colliding destinies, Romesh Gunesekera weaves together the story of two young lovers in search of freedom, and the eloquence of the bonded heart.A lyrical, beguiling story of slavery, freedom, identity and forbidden love from the Booker-shortlisted author of ReefGunesekera's lush descriptions make you see and smell the island and feel its hot, damp air on your skinThe film is waiting to be made. It's all there: an inverted but murky Pride and Prejudice, paradise spoilt, ill-fated lovers, rascals, imperial wickedness, the cunning of natives, plots and melees and a host of fabulous flowers. Romesh Gunesekera's novel takes the bouquet of romantic clichés and throws it up, makes it soar and scatter, leaving its scent in the air... Exquisite prose awakens all the senses ... a terrific read: pacey, political, moral, atmospheric and yes, definitely romanticGunesekera is strikingly adept at delineating the landscape of rootlessness ... [He] has a gentle, generous, deceptively light touchSubtle and convincing, it is life as art, art as life. Gunesekera is gifted and possessed of a rare humility ... [his writing] shows what fiction can do, it shows why fiction is written - and readSeriously and movingly, The Prisoner of Paradise contains a very modern message: a plea for the book. It has as much to say about writing as it has about love and colonial misery ... Here are the genuine answers, colourful, arresting, fresh and enormous as any operaIn this blisteringly lucid novel, it's as if Jane Austen, John Keats, Charles Dickens and even William Burroughs have clubbed together to render a masterful double-take on the 19th century's own ideas of romance and empire, rendered in a colossally skilful, flexible hybrid of the best of English prose and prosodyA lyrical, beguiling story of slavery, freedom, identity and forbidden love from the Booker-shortlisted author of Reef