‘Encaged is an implicit charge against crooked power balances.’ – Dominique van Varsseveld, afterword

It’s the early seventies. In a neighborhood of Paramaribo, the Hindustani, Javanese, Muslim, and Creole communities live side by side. But to what extent are they living together? When a town official is murdered, the neighborhood becomes the backdrop of a large-scale uprising. We follow Nohar, Roebia and Raymond in their plight to resist the postcolonial government.

Encaged is a gripping novel and interesting addition to contemporary conversations on identity, in which Bea Vianen portrays the diversity of Surinamese society with verve.