Novels

Sugar Island, Sanjida's latest novel, is out  now, published by John Murray.

Emily Harris, a glamorous young English actress, arrives in America in 1859. There she meets and falls in love with a charming southern gentleman, Charles Earl Brook. But shortly after they are married, Emily discovers that Charles has kept a terrible secret from her. The Brooks are slave-owners and Emily is forced to travel to the deep south where Charles keeps seven hundred men, women and children in abject poverty. As civil war breaks out, Emily's world becomes increasingly dangerous and she realises that her growing friendship with the slaves could cost her everything she has ever loved.

I have worked every day through dew and damp, and sand and heat, and done good work; but oh, missis, me old and broken now, no tongue can tell how much I suffer.

Since you left I still see you everywhere, on the stairs, on the veranda. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of you through the reeds. I come across you on horseback in the woods, I see you standing on the beach looking out to sea. I have always loved you.
 

Buy Sugar Island from Amazon

City Am gives Sugar Island a 4* review: 'Completely absorbing...a surprise delight that will please romantics with a conscience hugely.'

The Irish Post picks Sugar Island as one of the top ten reads for 2011

The Times says, 'gripping, entertaining and entirely on the side of the angels'

The Oxford Times says, 'O’Connell writes with passion. A well-researched and sensitive story evoking a ‘twisted version of paradise’.'

Amazon review: 'Based on a true story the detail is as harrowing as it is authentic. The beauty of the island provides a stark contrast to the horrors being perpetuated on the plantation. The colours, textures, scents and sounds convey a real sense of place and combine to underline the terrible dichotomy of Emily's life there. This novel is beautifully written and, though harrowing to read, is ultimately rewarding.'

Download the first chapter here


Questions about Sugar Island for Book Clubs / Readers Groups:

What value did Emily place on being a ‘celebrity’?

What were Emily’s real feelings about Charles Earl Brook? Was she in love with him?

Emily is used to being independent and a woman of means, whose opinions are respected. How different is this to the situation in which she finds herself on St Simons Island?

How modern a woman was Emily for the time?

How did you feel about the depiction of slavery on St Simons Island?

What paradoxes are there in the relationship between the slaves and the white Americans?

What types of slavery are depicted in the novel?

What do you believe Virginie’s opinion is of Emily and Charles?

In what way are Emily and Virginie’s characters similar and different?

What could Emily have done differently?

What are the novel’s leit motifs?

What were the key ways in which you feel the real story of Fanny Kemble was altered in the novel?

Do you think the author should have changed the real story of Fanny Kemble and Pierce Butler as significantly as she did to tell the fictitious story?


Sanjida's previous novel, The Naked Name of Love, was published in paperback in January 2010 by John Murray.

...startlingly original...piercingly intelligent and very exciting...

In 1865, as Darwin's new theory of evolution begins to sweep aside old certainties, a young Jesuit priest and plant-hunter sets out into an unknown world. He is driven by twin passions: for science and for his faith. Travelling acros the Eastern Steppes of Mongolia in the company of a Buddhist monk and a local horseman, Joseph's journey is fraught with danger, both physical and spiritual. But it is Namuunaa, the gifted shaman woman who saves his life, who offers a greater challenge: she will teach him what it is to love.

A story of East meeting West and of a love that transcends culture, faith and ultimately, tragedy, this is both a novel on an epic scale and an astonishingly intimate story.

I gave you my wolf and I would have tamed an eagle for you. I have waited to see you again when none believed that you should ever return; I would have waited for ever.

I would have crossed the world to be with you�

I gave you my wolf and I would have tamed an eagle for you. I have waited to see you again when none believed that you should ever return; I would have waited for ever.

We are like two wild birds destined to blow where the wilderness of the wind takes us. Your spirit is as untrammelled as an eagle�s, as loyal, as courageous. It is the secret of our souls; what we have, we have for ever.

Buy The Naked Name of Love from Amazon

Reviews of The Naked Name of Love on Amazon

***** 'Enchanting, engrossing, atmospheric'

***** 'A compelling story...I read this as part of a Book Group, and not only did I enjoy the book but I also thought it one of the most interesting and well-written of those that we have read as a group'

**** 'a thoroughly enjoyable, touching read that may get you to reflect on what lenghts you would go to to achieve your goals'
 

Questions about The Naked Name of Love for Book Clubs / Readers Groups:

How and why does Joseph stay true to his faith? Is it initially because of gratitude to the church who ‘saved’ him as a boy?

To what extent is Joseph trapped by his religion? To what extent are the nomads free in comparison?

What is Joseph able to learn from Mendo?

Although Mendo and Joseph talk about God and Buddhism, does either of them alter their view point?

How is Joseph able to reconcile his beliefs about God with his views on evolution?

To what extent does Joseph reconcile his beliefs about God with his views on love?

Joseph travels to Outer Mongolia to bring back flora and fauna. In particular, he hopes to find a rare white lily. What is acceptable to take from another country?

Why does Joseph really go back to Namuunaa’s tribe?

What does the novel tell you about love?

How much is Joseph changed by his ordeal?

Could Joseph have behaved differently?

What are the themes of the book?