Halfway through reading Amitav Ghosh's novel set in India, Field of Poppies, I came across these lines about a group of people in a camp, awaiting transportation on a British-owned ship:
"The climate of the city - hot, humid and damp - made things worse, for many people fell ill. Some recovered, but others seemed to want to sicken and fade away, so disheartened were they by the waiting, the rumours, and the disquieting feeling of being held captive".
Sound familiar? But this novel is set in the mid-19th century, not 2014, and it's not an Australian offshore detention centre, though it may sound like it.
Julia Osborne Nambucca Heads
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