Lindsey Collen – författare

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.

This book features a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, and three women in a prison cell built for two. A cyclone is building outside. It casts its mauve shadow inside the prison cell colouring their skin and the dull grey blankets. 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. As the bonds of friendship grow, so too do the seeds of rebellion as the cyclone draws them into its embrace. "Mutiny" is a powerful and hypnotic story about the kinship between women and of justice, in all its forms. 'Staggering demonstrates the subversive power of words. The protagonists have been stripped of everything except the language in their heads. And with this alone they survive, curse, dance, revolt, once defeated, will resist again. A break-out and a breakthrough. Magnificent' - John Berger.

'But it is as if I have broken some chain. And a rich swelling outwards of pleasure comes with being alive. Is this a beginning? Can I take the risk?' So begins the adventures of Boy; young, inexperienced, frustrated by his parents and the cloistered life he has led. One morning, while coming to terms with the fact that he has failed his school exams, his mother sends him to get marijuana for a festival. What should have been a simple errand suddenly becomes a spectacular journey of self-discovery. Travelling through the lush Mauritian landscape, filled with gnarled old mango trees, endless sugar cane fields, magnificent sunsets, and eerie, mysterious meanings, Boy confronts the dangers and deceits of the adult world, and with it the possibilities and the terror of freedom. Touching and exuberant, this is a wonderful story of courage, love and friendship.