Maharani's Misery sheds new light on the ordeal of indentured Indians, especially women, as they crossed the oceans to labour on sugar plantations in the Caribbean (and elsewhere) in the nineteenth century. Narrating the tragedy of a young woman who died on one such passage, apparently after being raped by crewmen, the book analyses "sexploitation" as a routine aspect of the voyages of the "coolie ships". The testimonies of those who gave evidence...