The Home Child

<b>Inspired by a true story, a beautiful novel-in-verse about a child far from home. From award-winning poet Liz Berry.<br><br>*WINNER OF THE WRITERS' PRIZE - BOOK OF THE YEAR*<br>*WINNER OF THE WRITERS' PRIZE FOR POETRY*</b><br><br>'A <b>profound act of witness</b> to a long injustice, and a <b>beautifully crafted conjuring of a life lived as truly as possible</b>' <b><i>Guardian </i>'Book of the Day'</b><br><b>'Ground-breaking' Benjamin Zephaniah<br>'Exquisite' Hannah Lowe</b>, author of <i>The Kids</i><br><br><b>'<i>Home's not a place, you must believe this,</i></b><br><b><i>but one who names you and means </i>beloved<i>.</i>'</b><br><br>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.<br><br>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.<br><br>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.<br><br>'<b>Vivid, compassionate </b>and makes Eliza Showell's voice <b>heard at last</b>' <b><i>Financial Times </i>*Best Poetry Books of summer 2023*<br><br>'</b>A <b>haunting, deeply compelling</b> narrative<b>' Andrew McMillan</b>, author of <i>physical</i><br><br><b><i>'</i>Only Liz Berry </b>could write such<b> raw and staggeringly beautiful </b>poems<b>' Fiona Benson</b>, author of <i>Vertigo & Ghost</i>