Sharon Maas (born 1951) is a Guyanese-born novelist, who was educated in England, lived in India, and subsequently in Germany and in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, United Kingdom. She is the author of ''The Sugar Planters Daughter.''

Biography

Maas was born in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is ...

. She came from a prominently political family of Dutch, Amerindian and

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

descent. Her mother was one of Guyana's earliest feminists, human rights activists and consumer advocates; her father was Press Secretary to the

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

opposition leader and later

President of Guyana The president of Guyana is the head of state and the head of government of Guyana, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic, according to the Constitution of Guyana. The president is also the chancellor of the Orde ...

, Dr Cheddi Jagan. She was educated in Guyana and England. After leaving school she worked as a trainee reporter with the ''Guyana Graphic'' in Georgetown, Guyana. She later wrote feature articles for the '' Sunday Chronicle'' as a staff journalist. In 1973 she travelled overland to India via England,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. After two years in India she moved to Germany, where she married a German. She lived in Germany for over 40 years and in 2018 moved to Ireland. She has written ten novels to date. Her first three novels, published by HarperCollins, focus substantially on their respective protagonists' coming-of-age experience and struggle to find their own, unique identity and place in life ("Bildungsroman"), and are chiefly set against Indian and Guyanese backgrounds. Her fourth book, ''Sons of Gods'' is a retelling of the Mahabharata. In 2014 she signed with the UK digital publisher Bookouture, which re-published ''Of Marriageable Age'' in May 2014 and several new works. ''Peacocks Dancing'' was republished as ''The Lost Daughter of India'' and ''The Speech of Angels'' was republished as ''The Orphan of India''. Her work has been translated into German, Spanish, French, Danish, Hungarian and Polish.

Publications

* '' Her Darkest Hour'' (2020) - novel * '' The Violin Maker's Daughter'' (2019) - novel * '' The Soldier's Girl'' (2018) - novel * '' The Girl from the Sugar Plantation'' (2017) - novel * '' The Orphan of India'' (2017) - novel * '' The Lost Daughter of India'' {2017) - novel * '' The Sugar Planter's Daughter'' (2016) - novel * '' The Secret Life of Winnie Cox'' (2015) – novel * '' The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q '' (2015) – novel * '' Sons of Gods -Mahabharata '' (2011) – novel * '' Stories of Strength'' (2005) – short fiction * '' The Speech of Angels'' (2003) – novel * '' Peacocks Dancing'' (2002) – novel * '' Of Marriageable Age'' (2000) – novel

References

External links

Official web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maas, Sharon Living people 1951 births Guyanese women novelists Postcolonial literature Writers from Georgetown, Guyana 20th-century Guyanese novelists 21st-century novelists 20th-century Guyanese women writers 21st-century Guyanese women writers Guyanese people of Dutch descent Guyanese people of indigenous peoples descent