The Sugar Planter's Daughter (34 page)
Read The Sugar Planter's Daughter Online
Authors: Sharon Maas
T
hank
you so much for reading
The Sugar Planter's Daughter
.
I do hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I'd love to know how you reacted to this story. Did it make you sad? Did it make you cry? Did it make you think? Did it take you back to the past? To a country that you perhaps did not know before? Which of the characters did you like the best, and which one did you love to hate? Did it make you see history from a new perspective? Did it change you in any way? I'd be delighted to hear your reaction, and the very best way of getting back to me is through a review, even a short one.
Getting feedback from readers is always wonderful, and it also helps to persuade other readers to pick up this, or another one of my books, for the first time.
When I write I am always thinking of you, the reader, and feel somehow connected to you. It's thrilling for me to know that out there you, a perfect stranger, are reading the words I wrote, following a story that came from my heart; somehow, this makes you not a stranger, but a friend. Isn't it wonderful how words, stories, can connect us all?
If this is the first âWinnie' book you've read, perhaps you'd like to find out how her story began. You can do so in the first book of the Quint trilogy,
The Secret Life of Winnie Cox
.
And if you'd like to know how the story continues â because of course it does! â then stay tuned, as I've more up my sleeve. And here's a big secret â you can take a sneak peek far into the future by jumping a few decades: you'll meet Winnie again as a wise Grandma in my previously published novel,
The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q
.
She doesn't play the main role in that book, but she's there all right!
To keep up-to-date with the latest news on my new releases, you can sign up to receive an email whenever a new book comes out by clicking on the link below. I promise to only contact you when I have new book out, and of course I'll never pass your email on to anyone else.
An epic page-turning family sagaâ¦
Thirty years of family secrets. Three generations of women. One family heirloom that could change everything.
When she ran away from her childhood home in Guyana,
Rika
swore that she would never return. Cut off from her family, she has fought hard to make a life for herself and daughter,
Inky
, in London.
Now, over thirty years later, Rika's cantankerous, wheelchair-bound mother,
Dorothea
, arrives in London. But as old wounds re-open, Dorothea and Rika are further apart than ever.
Inky soon learns that her grandmother is sitting on a small fortune. As she uncovers the secrets of the past one by one, she unravels the tragedy that tore her mother and grandmother apart. But nothing can prepare her, or Rika, for Dorothea's final, unexpected revelation.
An epic, mesmerising tale of tragic loss, the strength of words left unspoken, and the redeeming power of love.
Buy here!
Read what readers are saying about
The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q
:
â
A beautiful story about tragic love and ultimately about forgiveness
â¦with powerful messages about love, life and learning to let things go in order to be happy.'
livinglifewithjoy
âRich in detail and emotion and has
the most beautiful and real description of loss I have ever read.
'
Shaz's Book blog
âWow what
a very touching story
that was
filled with super characters and important real-life issuesâ¦
'
ajbookreviewclub
âIf you are fond of family dramas that span generations, continents, and cultures, you will find this to be a worthwhile read.
I found the shift in attitudes toward gender and ethnicity across generations and cultures to be particularly interesting.
'
janetursel.com
âA terrific writer.'
Barbara Erskine
A spellbinding story of forbidden love. Three continents, three decades, three very disparate lives
Savitri
, intuitive and charismatic, grows up among the servants of a pre-war English household in Madras. But the traditional customs of her Brahmin family clash against English upper-class prejudice, threatening her love for the privileged son of the house.
Nataraj
, raised as the son of an idealistic doctor in rural South India, finds life in London heady, with girls and grass easily available⦠until he is summoned back home to face raw reality.
Saroj
, her fire hidden by outward reserve, comes of age in Guyana, South America. When her strict, orthodox Hindu father goes one step too far she finally rebels against him... and even against her gentle, apparently docile Ma.
But Ma harbours a deep secret⦠one that binds these three so disparate lives and hurtles them towards a truth that could destroy their world.
Of Marriageable Age
is out now.
âA big book, big themes, an exotic background and characters that will live with you forever.' Katie Fforde
âBeautifully and cleverly written. A wondrous, spellbinding story which grips you from the first to the last page⦠I can't recall when I last enjoyed a book so much.' Lesley Pearse
âIt's a wonderful panoramic story and conveys such vivid pictures of the countries it portrays. I was immediately transported and completely captivated. A terrific writer.' Barbara Erskine
âA vast canvas of memorable characters across a kaleidoscope of cultures⦠her epic story feels like an authentic reflection of a world full of sadness, joy and surprise.'
The Observer
Two people. Two very different worlds. One heartbreaking love story.
1910, South America:
Winnie Cox
lives a privileged life of dances and dresses on her father's sugar cane plantation. Life is sweet in the kingdom of sugar and Winnie along with her sister Johanna, have neither worries nor responsibilities, they are birds of paradise, protected from the poverty in the world around them.
But everything can change in a heartbeatâ¦
When Winnie falls in love with
George Quint
, the post-office boy, a âdarkie' from the other side, she soon finds herself slipping into a double life. And as she withdraws from her family, she discovers a shocking secret about those whom are closest to her. Now, more than ever, Winnie is determined to prove her love for George, whatever price she must pay and however tragic the consequences might be.
A breathtaking love story of two people fighting to be together, in a world determined to break them apart.
Buy here!
Of Marriageable Age
The Secret Life of Winnie Cox
The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q
H
ow can
I ever thank those who gave me this story? It seems to me that everyone I know from my childhood provided the ingredients, starting with my grandmother, Winifred Westmaas, the primary inspiration. Posthumous thanks to my father David Westmaas, my mother Eileen  Cox, my aunts and, especially, my uncles from both sides of the family: all  gone, unfortunately; and thanks to cousins and friends and neighbours and all the myriad wonderful people I knew growing up in Guyana, or British Guiana, as it was then known. Special thanks go to my cousin-in-law, Peter Halder, whose wonderful memoir about his own childhood in Albouystown woke memories and provided inspiration.Â
This story grew out of that unique and unforgettable background. I owe it all to them.
I'd like to thank the collection of experts on the AbsoluteWrite forum who answered many of my niggling questions about cars and custody and fires and clubfeet, in particular Jane Smith and Uncle Jim, aka James MacDonald, author.Â
And of course I'd like to thank the team at Bookouture who helped to birth this book: Lydia Vassar-Smith, Jacqui Lewis, Natasha Hodgson, Tom Feltham, not to mention Oliver Rhodes and the ever-supportive Kim Nash. Speaking of supportive â thanks to my co-authors at Bookouture, the most encouraging and mutually helpful group of people I've ever known. Hugs to you all!
Published by Bookouture
An imprint of StoryFire Ltd.
23 Sussex Road, Ickenham, UB10 8PN
United Kingdom
Copyright © Sharon Maas 2016
Sharon Maas
has asserted her
right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-78681-033-5