The Attic Child
A hauntingly powerful and emotionally charged novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging.
Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a shared secret.
Early 1900s London: Taken from his homeland, twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of the time locked away in the attic of a large house by the sea. The only time Celestine isn’t bound by confines of the small space is when he is acting as an unpaid servant to English explorer Sir Richard Babbington, As the years pass, he desperately clings on to memories of his family in Africa, even as he struggles to remember his mother’s face, and sometimes his real name . . .
1974: Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege whose fortunes have now changed, finds herself trapped in the same attic. Searching for a ray of light in the darkness of the attic, Lowra finds under the floorboards an old-fashioned pen, a porcelain doll, a beaded necklace, and a message carved on the wall, written in an unidentifiable language. Providing comfort for her when all hope is lost, these clues will lead her to uncover the secrets of the attic.
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Community Reviews
Lowra is a young girl with her own secrets and demons but when she sees the photographs, she instantly recognizes the sadness in his eyes and the necklace he is wearing. This leads her on a path of her own self-discovery as she researches the story of Celestine (Dikembe). This story is at many times sad yet hopeful. Lowra wants to escape her own history with the house but feels a connection to Celestine.
This is told in dual timelines which works really well. I probably enjoyed Celestine's story more. This is an educational read about the colonization of the Congo and child exploration. During the Leopold Regime about 10 million people were killed; abuse, trafficking and stealing children were accepted. This is an important story about race, privilege and abuse. I only gave 4 stars because it is a long book (over 450 pages) and many characters to keep straight. A family tree would've been helpful.
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