The attic child A novel

Two children, separated by the better part of a century, connect in the dusty attic at the center of their traumatic early lives. In 1905, 10-year-old Dikembe is taken by an English explorer from his home in what was then called the Congo. Renamed Celestine and dressed in fine clothes, Dikembe is brought to a seaside town where he is forced to serve as a companion to his captor for years, until the Englishman's death brings another change in Dikembe's fortunes. Nearly 70 years later in the same house, after her father goes missing, young Lowra is locked in the attic by her former tutor and stepmother, only released to parade in front of inspectors as though nothing is wrong. She discovers what Dikembe kept hidden beneath the floorboards during his own captivity there, and as an adult, she sets out to uncover the rest of his story. As she tracks down traces of Dikembe and confronts her painful past in this moving novel, Lowra discovers family secrets and the power of resilience, hope, and love.

In early 1900s Britain, young Celestine lives in an attic in a house by the sea, having been taken from his African home to act as an unpaid servant to English explorer Sir Richard Babbington. In 1974, orphaned Lowra, whose privileged family has suffered misfortune, is trapped in the same attic, where she finds mementos and a message carved in an unknown language by her predecessor. British therapist/novelist Jaye (Being Lara) turns to historical epic in a story inspired by the photograph of a boy named Ndugu M'Hali taken from his home in Tanzania; with a 75,000-copy first printing.