"Love in a time of famine and conflict"
Every new novel from the Carnegie Medal winning author and past Laureate na nÓg is a highly anticipated event and fans will certainly not find themselves disappointed by this outstanding offering.
Set in 1846 as the potato famine swept across Ireland, it introduces us to Nell, the eldest daughter of a family that are tenants on the estate of Lord Wicken, a wealthy English aristocrat. She has been forced to give up her studies and start work as a scullery maid in his home to keep her family from starvation.
It is here she meets John Browning, the nephew and heir of Wicken, and they fall in love despite the fact that class and nationality should keep them apart. But whilst Lord Wicken, is the ultimate malignant landlord, completely without feeling for his starving tenants, Nell sees that Johnny is different. It is an extraordinary achievement to be able to use the verse novel form to powerfully present an unflinching account of the hardship and horror of the Great Hunger, while at the same time telling a compelling love story full of hope.
The verse form is both accessible and immersive and creates a very intense and unforgettable reading experience. This is a powerful exploration of love in all its forms and a profound and eloquent evocation of a devastating period in Ireland's history.
The outstanding novel from the Carnegie Medal-winning, former Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan; thought-provoking and incredibly moving, it explores love and family during The Great Hunger Ireland, 1846.
Nell is working as a scullery maid in the kitchen of the Big House. Once she loved school and books and dreaming. But there's not much choice of work when the land grows food that rots in the earth. Now she is scrubbing, peeling, washing, sweeping for Sir Philip Wicken, the man who owns her home, her family's land, their crops, everything. His dogs are always well fed, even as famine sets in.
Upstairs in the Big House, where Nell is forbidden to enter, is Johnny Browning, newly arrived from England: the young nephew who will one day inherit it all. And as hunger and disease run rampant all around them, a spark of life and hope catches light when Nell and Johnny find each other.
This is a love story, and the story of a people being torn apart. This is a powerful and unforgettable novel from the phenomenally talented Sarah Crossan.
Where the Heart Should Be features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance / Relationship Stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s / Teenage: Poetry, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Relationship stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Fiction, Children’s / Teenage poetry, anthologies, annuals
Where the Heart Should Be is available in Paperback, Hardback
Where the Heart Should Be was written by Sarah Crossan and published by Bloomsbury Young Adult an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
Where the Heart Should Be has 408 pages
£8.09
