The Prisoner of Paradise

Lucy Gladwell settles into her aunt and uncle's grand plantation house in Mauritius, only to discover that beneath the island's idyllic surface lies deep unease. Set in 1825 as slavery begins its turbulent decline, the novel follows Lucy as she navigates the restrictive social world around her and her complicated attraction to Don Lambodar, a charismatic young translator from Ceylon. Poised between India and Africa, Mauritius becomes a setting where personal desire and historical upheaval collide.