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

Publisher Review

Deeply moving. A graceful, delicate book, stunning in its emotional depth... I know I'll return to it many times in the future -- Megan Hunter, author of THE END WE START FROM A haunting, deeply compelling narrative, that holds the reader tight to the animal anchor of the natural world, and speaks in the unique idiolect of its own genealogy -- Andrew McMillan, author of PHYSICAL Liz Berry has given the world another ground-breaking collection of poems. These verses are sensitive and tender, yet the language is real and unflinching. * Benjamin Zephaniah * An extraordinary work of imagination . . . Poetic virtuosity is combined with novelistic story-telling as we follow the unfolding fate of Eliza Showell . . . An exquisite book. * Hannah Lowe * A triumph. A novel in verse, an elegy, a profound act of witness . . . Eliza is brought to such tangible and complex life I feel as though I've met her * Luke Kennard *