Lindsey Collen was born in South Africa and lives in Mauritius. She is the critically acclaimed author of There is a Tide, The Rape of Sita, Getting Rid of It and Mutiny. The Rape of Sita won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the Africa Region in 1994 and was longlisted for the 1996 Orange Prize. The Rape of Sita was banned in Mauritius and resulted in death threats being made against her.