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'Intelligent, beautifully written'
The Times
'Historical fiction fans, meet your new favourite author'
Stella Magazine
'Beautifully written, immaculately researched and powerfully imagined'
Lancashire Evening Post
Oceania, 1879. For two years the Peacocks, a determined family of settlers, have struggled to make a remote volcanic island their home. At last, a ship appears. The six Pacific Islanders on board have travelled over eight hundred miles in search of new horizons. Hopes are high, until a vulnerable boy vanishes.
In their search for the lost child, settlers and newcomers together uncover far more than they were looking for. The island's secrets force young Lizzie Peacock to question her deepest convictions, and slowly this tiny, fragile community begins to fracture . . .
An intimate, intense and beautifully realised novel of possession, power and the liberating loss of innocence. The perfect Christmas gift for fans of MISTER PIP and THE POISONWOOD BIBLE.
About the author
Lydia Syson is a Royal Literary Fellow for the Courtauld Institute. She lives in south London with her partner and four children. After an early career as a BBC World Service Radio producer, she turned to writing, often drawing on her family history for inspiration. Read more about Lydia and her books at www.lydiasyson.com or on Twitter: @lydiasyson
Summary
'Intelligent, beautifully written' The Times'Historical fiction fans, meet your new favourite author' Stella Magazine'Beautifully written, immaculately researched and powerfully imagined' Lancashire Evening PostOceania, 1879.
Foreword
Intimate, intense and beautiful. A highly acclaimed novel of possession, power and loss of innocence for fans of Mister Pip and The Poisonwood Bible
Additional text
A sinister, engrossing story
Report
Syson's novel, a modern take on the literary genre known (after Robinson Crusoe) as the robinsonade, is a haunting exploration of Lizzie's disillusion with her father's dreams and their damaging consequences The Sunday Times
