The Home Child

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

'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