Sacred Hunger

Sacred Hunger

First edition cover
Author	Barry Unsworth
Language	English
Genre	Historical novel
Publisher	Hamish Hamilton
Publication date	27 February 1992
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	640 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-241-13003-4 (first edition, hardback)
Preceded by	Sugar and Rum
Followed by	Morality Play

Sacred Hunger is a historical novel by Barry Unsworth first published in 1992. It was joint winner of the Booker Prize that year, sharing the position with Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient.

The story is set in the mid 18th century and centers around the Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship employed in the triangular trade. The two major characters are cousins Erasmus Kemp, son of a wealthy merchant from Lancashire, and Matthew Paris, a surgeon who goes on the voyage. The novel's central theme is greed, with the subject of slavery being a primary medium for exploring the issue.

Plot introduction

The novel begins in England during the age of the Enlightenment but long before the days of Darwin and the abolition of slavery. Matthew Paris is the main character of the novel, a surgeon several years older than his cousin Erasmus. Prior to the beginning of the story Paris had been imprisoned for writings that clashed with Christian beliefs. Wishing to escape his past, he accepts a position as surgeon on the Liverpool Merchant, a slave ship owned by his uncle William Kemp. His son Erasmus Kemp, a young man in his early twenties, has a long standing hatred for his cousin dating back to his younger years. He participates in a play initially, and is enamored Sarah Wolpert, the daughter of a friend of his father. The ship's crew is made up of men available at the time around the Liverpool docks, and many are recruited by blackmail and deception. As the ship sets off toward African continent to collect its cargo, it becomes clear that Paris and the ship's captain, Saul Thurso, have very different world views.