And while I enjoyed this story, for which she did meticulous research, (although she will undoubtedly be accused of appropriation) it’s not the Harris I have come to expect. And that makes it very different from Harris’ two previous books, which had a bit of the unexpected, a bit of the surprising, a bit of the shocking. They will still be slaves, toiling in the cane fields for the friars who urgently need to increase their coffers by making the very profitable commodity, sugar, but apparently the French were preferable to the English.So an adventure story ultimately. Not that their life on Martinique will improve immensely. But it helps to explain the desperateness of these people who are willing to attempt an escape. A true adventure story develops as Emile explains the dangers to the slaves who would like nothing better than to return to Martinique and a plan is developed.The descriptions of atrocities inflicted upon the slaves by the English are abominable and hard to stomach. These two loving brothers face the daunting task with courage and great skill but the obstacles are extreme. In Lucien, she has once again created a unique narrative voice with the lilt of the Caribbean and the innocence of a child. They are especially suited for the task because Lucien speaks very good English and Emile knows the slaves very well, having been one of them.Jane Harris’ new novel is based on a true story and it’s really a very good historical fiction. Sugar is money.”Lucien is a thirteen year old slave boy in 1765 and lives on the island of Martinique when the head friar that he tends to the livestock for gives him and his much older brother Emile a task: travel by boat to (now English) Grenada and bring back the slaves that rightfully belong to the friars. 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. 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.īased on a historical rebellion, award-winning writer Jane Harris peoples her daring novel with unforgettable characters.

Seven years earlier - after a series of scandals - they were ousted from Grenada by the French authorities, and had to leave their slaves behind.

The monks run hospitals in the islands and fund their ventures through farming cane sugar and distilling rum. 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.

Sugar Money by Jane Harris