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Inspired by a true story, a beautiful novel-in-verse about a child far from home. From award-winning poet Liz Berry.
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WRITERS' PRIZE FOR POETRY 2024*
'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.
'Vivid, compassionate and makes Eliza Showell's voice heard at last' Financial Times *Best Poetry Books of summer 2023*
'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
