Explore

Explore the world through its stories.

Browse the different options and select a country to discover a book and a film that offer different windows into its culture, history and identity.

Drag to move · scroll to zoom

20 countries · 40 recommendations

New countries join the map every week.

Browse available countries as a list

Oceania

Fiji

Fiji's identity cannot be understood only through beaches and tourism. Indigenous iTaukei traditions coexist with a large Indo-Fijian community whose history is connected to British colonial rule and the indentured labour system that brought workers from India to the islands. Fiji therefore carries Pacific, South Asian and colonial histories simultaneously, while islands such as Rotuma maintain their own distinct identities and traditions.

FijiA Disappearance in FijiNilima Rao

A Disappearance in Fiji

Nilima Rao

First published: 2023
Genre: Historical mystery
Language: English
Length: 288 pages

About the book

In colonial Fiji in 1914, twenty-five-year-old Indian police sergeant Akal Singh has been transferred from Hong Kong following a professional mistake. When an indentured Indian woman disappears from a sugar plantation, his investigation begins exposing the realities of labour, race, colonial authority and the unequal society around him.

Why this book

I liked the idea of giving you a mystery because it lets the history reveal itself gradually. Akal arrives in Fiji thinking he understands more than he actually does, and the investigation repeatedly forces him to reconsider the people and structures around him. That feels like a useful idea to carry into travel too: arriving somewhere is easy, but understanding it takes considerably longer.

Cultural context

Under British rule, thousands of Indians were transported to Fiji as indentured labourers, particularly to work in the sugar industry. Their descendants became a major part of modern Fijian society. The novel uses a crime investigation to introduce that history while also exploring the racial and institutional hierarchies of the colonial system.

Read the book

Find a digital edition

Official Penguin Random House / Soho Crime record; ebook ISBN 9781641294300, published 6 June 2023.

Why these two together?

A Disappearance in Fiji introduces one of the histories that produced modern multicultural Fiji: colonialism and Indian indentured migration. The Land Has Eyes offers an Indigenous Pacific perspective rooted in Rotuman community and storytelling. Together they immediately complicate the idea of Fiji as simply a tropical destination.

Before you go

01Learn the difference between Indigenous iTaukei, Indo-Fijian and Rotuman histories rather than treating them as interchangeable.
02Remember that tourism represents only one part of contemporary Fiji.
03Respect village protocols and local guidance when entering communities.
04Notice how land, family and storytelling can carry cultural meaning far beyond scenery.