The Attic child by Lola Jaye

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for Lola Jaye's The Attic Child. 

Two children separated by almost seven decades, share a similar trauma in this latest from Lola Jaye. 

Dikembe was just a boy when he was given over to Sir Richard. In truth, he couldn't have known his mother's fears for his future. And she was promised that he would gain an education and be brought up as an English gentleman. 

Torn from his home and everything he'd ever known, he was thrown into British society. Renamed Celestine, he served as Sir Richard's companion and was given every privilege befitting Sir Richard's place in society. 

But he always longed for home. Even when he was told his home and his family were gone. 

And then Sir Richard died. 

Lowra's early life was a happy one. But when her mother died and her father remarried, all of that changed. Her father disappeared, leaving her in the charge of her new stepmother, who made no bones about her feelings for the young girl. And the abuse she suffered at the woman's hands were unknown to everyone else in her life. 

She escaped when she was fifteen, living in group homes until she turned eighteen. 

Now, at thirty, she has just learned that her stepmother has died. And the house where she experienced the worst years of her life is hers. It's there that she once found evidence of another child. And now, so many years later, she's determined to find out what she can about the boy who lived in the attic before her. 

This is a hard read. The abuse both Dikembe and Lowra suffer truly made my heart ache as I read the book. But it's about a deeper trauma than that. A history of upper class society figures basically kidnapping children from what they viewed as lesser societies. 

These children, and there are a few mentioned in the book, were, as Dikembe is, part of a collection. Yet another piece or artifact showing off wealthy people's travels and allowing them to pat themselves on the back for their "good deeds."

In truth, Dikembe's slate is wiped clean as soon as he's handed over to Sir Richard. His name, his history, his culture, his family...all of it is lost to him. 

Lowra too experiences something of the same at the hands of her stepmother. All of the photographs of her family are gone. She knows nothing of her past or her family connections. Nothing of her own story. 

This is a heart wrenching book. But it's also one about holding on to the things that are important to you. Dikembe never forgets his family. Never forgets where he came from. And in searching for his story, Lowra learns more than she ever expected about a history she was completely unaware of. 

The Attic Child is a beautifully written story, even at it's most painful to read parts.