Sugar Money

Book excerpt: Set in 1765 on the Caribbean islands of Grenada and Martinique, Sugar Money opens as two enslaved brothers - Emile and Lucien - are sent on an impossible mission forced upon them by their masters, a band of mendicant French monks. The monks run hospitals in the islands and fund their ventures through farming cane sugar and distilling rum. Seven years earlier - after a series of scandals - they were ousted from Grenada by the French authorities, and had to leave their slaves behind. Despite the fact that Grenada is now under British rule, and effectively enemy territory, the monks devise an absurdly ambitious plan: they send Emile and Lucien to the island to convince the monks’ former slaves to flee British brutality and escape with them. Based on a historical rebellion, award-winning writer Jane Harris peoples her daring novel with unforgettable characters. Recounted by Lucien, the younger brother, this story of courage, disaster, and love, is a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit under the crush of unspeakable cruelty.