A Disappearance in Fiji Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Fiji and the Girmit System and our BookBrowse Review of A Disappearance in Fiji.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The following quote reveals Akal's prejudices at the start of the novel: "He had not created the situation, and it had nothing to do with him, really. The Indians being brought over as girmityas were not the kind he would have ever dealt with in India. They were not his people, even if they were his countrymen" (p. 22). Discuss Akal's attitude about the indentured Indians and his lack of personal responsibility on the matter. Do you think he goes through a moral awakening in this novel? Why? If not, do you think he will in future books?
2. Akal considers himself to be different from the Indian indentured servants because of his Sikh background, his standing in the police force, and the colonialist society that dominates the setting of the novel. Which do you think plays the largest part in his internalized biases: class, faith, income, or something else?
3. Rao writes in the Author's Note that the article snippets interspersed between chapters are largely "actual articles from the Fiji Times from the period." How did these newspaper clippings illuminate different elements of life in Fiji for you?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Soho Crime. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.