Inspired by a true story, a beautiful novel-in-verse about a child far
from home. From award-winning poet Liz Berry.
'A profound act of witness to a long injustice, and a beautifully
crafted conjuring of a life lived as truly as possible' Guardian
'Book of the Day'
'Ground-breaking' Benjamin Zephaniah
'Exquisite' Hannah Lowe, author of The Kids
'Home's not a place, you must believe this,
but one who names you and means beloved.'**
In 1908, Eliza Showell, twelve years old and newly orphaned, boards a
ship that will carry her from the slums of the Black Country to rural
Nova Scotia. She will never return to Britain or see her family again.
She is a Home Child, one of thousands of British children sent to Canada
to work as indentured farm labourers and domestic servants.
In Nova Scotia, Eliza's world becomes a place where ordinary things are
transfigured into treasures - a red ribbon, the feel of a foal's mane,
the sound of her name on someone else's lips. With nothing to call her
own, the wild beauty of Cape Breton is the only solace Eliza has - until
another Home Child, a boy, comes to the farm and changes everything.
Inspired by the true story of Liz Berry's great aunt, this spellbinding
novel in verse is an exquisite portrait of a girl far from home.
'A haunting, deeply compelling narrative' Andrew McMillan,
author of physical
'Only Liz Berry could write such raw and staggeringly
beautiful poems' Fiona Benson**, author of Vertigo & Ghost
