Sado

Sado n. shadow 2. reflection 3. humiliation, dishonour - A New Bislama Dictionary

Friday 13 March, 2015: Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam makes landfall in Vanuatu with devastating consequences. Vanuatu is bruised but not broken. Reeling from the loss of livelihood and struggling to meet basic human needs, people start to reassemble their lives.

Cathryn is an NGO worker from New Zealand who has a ruined home, a teenage son and a Ni-Vanuatu boyfriend she hasn't heard from since the phone lines went dead. Her colleague Faia is a community organiser, a radio journalist and a survivor who fights for women to be heard. Together and apart they must navigate their places in the complex cultural and social systems of Vanuatu, where tradition clashes with modern urban life.

Sado is a novel about relationshipsbetween friends and family, across cultures and communities, and also with the past. And when a terrible accident occurs, all of these relationships are called into question.

Featured in the13 January 2020 New Zealand newsletter.
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