While Charlesia longs for her homeland of Diego Garcia, Désiré, the young man who might be her son, begins to uncover the secrets of his parents and their past. This novel tells the story of the Chagossians, their deportation, and their uprooted lives in Mauritius since Diego Garcia became an American military base.
Based on a true, still-unfolding story, Silence of the Chagos is a powerful exploration of cultural identity, the concept of home, and above all the neverending desire for justice. Shenaz Patel draws on the lives of exiled Chagossians in this tragic example of 20th century political oppression. Every afternoon a woman in a red headscarf walks to the end of the quay and looks out over the water, fixing her gaze “back there”: to Diego Garcia, one of the small islands forming the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. With no explanation, no forewarning, and only an hour to pack their belongings... continue