This week on Pagecast, author Joanne Joseph and narrator Roshina Ratnam take us behind the scenes for the making of Jonathan Ball Publishers’s first ever audiobook, Children of Sugarcane.

Pagecast offers you insider interviews with recently published authors, looking into the process of writing, exploring the narratives within and providing you with the story behind the story.

Vividly set against the backdrop of 19th century India and the British-owned sugarcane plantations of Natal, written with great tenderness and lyricism, Children of Sugarcane paints an intimate and wrenching picture of indenture told from a woman’s perspective.

• See also: ‘There’s been a huge amount of mystery surrounding my family’ – Watch Joanne Joseph chatting about Children of Sugarcane

Bringing this compelling narrative to life is the talented South African actress and storyteller, Roshina Ratnam.

In our discussion, Joseph and Ratnam provide insights into the audiobook’s production journey and delve into the creative techniques Ratnam employed to vividly convey the story’s essence.

Listen to the episode:

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About the book

Shanti, a bright teenager stifled by life in rural India and facing an arranged marriage, dreams that South Africa is an opportunity to start afresh. The Colony of Natal is where Shanti believes she can escape the poverty, caste, and troubling fate of young girls in her village. Months later, after a harrowing sea voyage, she arrives in Natal only to discover the profound hardship and slave labour that await her.

Spanning four decades and two continents, Children of Sugarcane demonstrates the lifegiving power of love, heartache, and the indestructible bonds between family and friends. These bonds prompt heroism and sacrifice, the final act of which leads to Shanti’s redemption.

Categories Fiction South Africa

Tags Children of Sugarcane Joanne Joseph Jonathan Ball Publishers Pagecast Podcasts Roshina Ratnam