A touching and sometimes testing story of one girl's inspiring journey through life.
'Sweet Tea' is an historical novel, set in Queensland in the 1870s when South Sea Islanders were regularly kidnapped by the notorious "blackbirders" sailing vessels, recruiting labour for the sugar plantations. They were not slaves but contract labourers paid a pittance. However, the harsh conditions and the hostile land had the same effects as slavery and many of them died.
This is the story of Orrani, a fourteen-year-old Maratta girl, whose reckless behaviour leads to her being kidnapped, bound for Queensland. Her imprisonment in the hold with young men breaks sacred taboos and she fears for her life with her own people and in Queensland. She is contracted to keep house for a farmer and care for his little girl, Lizzie.
Lizzie grows into an independent young woman who loves Orrani, but their relationship is tested by cultural differences, racial tensions and Orrani's marriage to the charismatic Taama Maratta, a fighter for Islander rights.
