To Care for Lisbet
by Brian Ridden (9781425185268)

To Care for Lisbet (Book)

When slavery was outlawed, plantation owners turned to the exploitive trade in contract labor. To Care for Lisbet tells of sugar cane farmer's daughter, Lizzie, and kidnapped South Sea Islander woman, Orrani. They meet in Australia when Orrani is contracted to lighten the physical burden of Papa's inconsolable grief by domestic service and caring for motherless Lizzie, aged five. Lizzie, ignorant of Orrani's unfathomable loss, is a needy, demanding child. Orrani brings her security then joy by unshakable caring and sharing knowledge of women's business. Over three decades through cyclone, flood, disease and racial violence, both grow in understanding and respect for cultural difference, and celebrate shared values. As Lizzie finds connection with her American mother through her diary, art, and a Poinciana tree, it gives her strength. She accepts the unhappy love she feels for her alienated brother, Charles, who hates farming and leaves for a dangerous and short life. Then the intertwined lives of the two women are shattered by treachery. A "refined white" government launches mass deportation of Island laborers who have brought it prosperity. Lizzie discovers how to prevent Orrani's family being split up, but after years of kindness, Papa won't act. When Lizzie learns why, it increases her pain and renders her powerless. Love and resilience are tested to their limits by what follows.

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