July 8, 2025

Character List for A Disappearance in Fiji

Totogo Police Station, Suva Police Force

Sergeant Akal Singh—an Indian sergeant in the Suva Division of the Fijian Constabulary; he has been transferred to Fiji as a demotion from his position in the police department in Hong Kong as the result of a scandal

Corporal Taviti—a Fijian corporal in the Suva Division of the Fijian Constabulary and apparently Akal’s only friend there; also the nephew of a Fijian chief

Inspector-General Jonathan “John” Thurstrom—the British head of the Fijian Constabulary

Other British Officials in Fiji

David Keane—the Agent-General of Immigration

Father David Hughes—a Catholic priest and missionary in Suva; he’s the first to insist that Kunti was not a runaway indentured Indian

Dr. Robert Holmes—a British doctor living in Suva and responsible for visiting plantations to administer health exams and treatment to the Indian indentured workers

Plantation Owners and Associates

Henry Parkins—a disgraced Australian from a moneyed family who has been sent to Fiji after a scandal

Susan Parkins—Henry’s ambitious wife, the daughter of an important political family in Australia

John Brown—aka John Chalmers; the overseer for the Parkins plantation; he isn’t who he seems

Lewis Robinson—a British man living in Suva and having an affair with Susan Parkins

Indian Immigrants Indentured to the Parkins Plantation

Kunti—an indentured Indian woman who seems to have disappeared (either a runaway or kidnapped), leaving behind her husband Venkat and daughter Divya

Venkat—an Indian indentured worker who serves as a sirdar (an Indian supervisor) for the Parkins plantation

Satish—an Indian indentured worker who interprets for English-speakers with the other Indian immigrants

Other Foreigners

Ravendra Choudry—an Indian member of a British delegation (Delegation for India’s Relations with Fiji) visiting Fiji to review the Indian indentured servitude program