[09/24/24] Berry, Liz: The Home Child

Vintage, paperback

Publication Date: September 24th, 2024

Publisher Marketing: 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 laborers 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