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Intimate, intense and beautiful. A highly acclaimed novel of possession, power and loss of innocence for fans of Mister Pip and The Poisonwood Bible

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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. A family of settlers from New Zealand are the sole inhabitants of a remote volcanic island.

For two years they have struggled with the harsh reality of trying to make this unforgiving place a paradise they can call their own. At last, a ship appears. The six Pacific Islanders on board have travelled eight hundred miles across the ocean in search of work and new horizons. Hopes are high for all, 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 them all to question their deepest convictions.

An intimate, intense and beautifully realised novel of possession, power and the liberating loss of innocence, this will delight fans of MISTER PIP and THE POISONWOOD BIBLE.

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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

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Syson, Lydia
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

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