The Home Child

Description

Inspired by a true story, a beautiful novel-in-verse about a child far from home. From award-winning poet Liz Berry.

*WINNER OF THE WRITERS” PRIZE – BOOK OF THE YEAR*
*WINNER OF THE WRITERS” PRIZE FOR POETRY*

”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