A GROUP of Guyanese writers in New York has organised the launch of a new novel, Daughters of the Empire, focusing on the migration of Guyanese and other West Indian women and on their contributions to society.The book will be launched today, May 26, in Richmond Hill. The event has been organised by the Association of Artists and Writers (AAW)…and the public is invited to this free event.  A light dinner will be served and several outstanding Caribbean writers will be recognised for their contributions to literature.
A follow-up launch will be held the following day May 27 organised by the Rajkumari Cultural Centre, led by Prita Singh, at the Queens Museum of Art.
The organisers said the launch is part of the celebration of 174 years of the Indian diaspora focusing on Women. Daughters of Empire is a book about women, and all of them, whether in the colony or in the metropolis, are daughters of Empire shaping lives and ringing in change in both places and their contributions to the British Empire.
The book is written by Dr. Lakshmi Persaud, who taught at Queen’s College in Guyana during the 1970s and is currently settled in London. Lakshmi is the wife of Guyanese Prof. of Economics Bishnodat Persaud, who taught at several universities in the Caribbean and England and at U.G.

He also worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat where he was Director of Economics.  And he served as Consultant in Finance for several governments in the Caribbean and Africa.  Dr. Lakshmi Persaud has written several novels with Daughters of Empire being the latest one. She is a fantastic writer and her books have had favourable reviews in England, Canada, and Trinidad.
At  book launches in Trinidad and Toronto, the books were sold out.  Dr. Lakshmi Persaud’s works can be found at website www.lakshmipersaud.com. She will be doing readings from the latest novel (in the form of history) at both launches.
The book is divided into five sections: harmony, cooking, literature of migration, daughters who shaped lives and a character by the name of Amira.
Prof. Ken Ramchand of the University of Trinidad in his review of the book said Daughters of Empire (2012) should be read by women, parents, young adults, teachers and all those who manage a country’s system of education. The book is about all of these things, he penned.
The public is invited to both book launches.