The Attic Child
The Attic Child by Lola Jaye is a historical fiction novel published by Pan Macmillan on October 27, 2022. This edition spans 480 pages and is presented in English. The narrative follows two children, Celestine and Lowra, who are trapped in the same attic nearly a century apart, each bound by a shared secret. Celestine, a twelve-year-old boy in 1907, is confined in an attic room, reflecting on his lost family in Africa, while Lowra, a young orphan girl from a privileged background, discovers remnants of the past that hint at the attic’s history.
Readers will find a dual-narrative that explores themes of family secrets, love, loss, identity, and belonging, all framed within the context of Black British history. As Lowra uncovers artifacts like an old porcelain doll and a mysterious necklace, she begins to connect with Celestine’s story, revealing the emotional weight of their shared experiences. This book presents a poignant exploration of race and privilege, inviting readers to reflect on the complexities of identity and heritage.
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Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2023.
‘An incredibly important book . . . a beautifully crafted, compelling story . . . which will undoubtedly break your heart but also make it sing’ – Mike Gayle
Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a secret.
1907: Twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of his time locked in an attic room of a large house by the sea. Taken from his homeland and treated as an unpaid servant, he dreams of his family in Africa even if, as the years pass, he struggles to remember his mother’s face, and sometimes his real name . . .
Decades later, Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege, will find herself banished to the same attic. Lying under the floorboards of the room is an old porcelain doll, an unusual beaded claw necklace and, most curiously, a sentence etched on the wall behind an old cupboard, written in an unidentifiable language. Artefacts that will offer her a strange kind of comfort, and lead her to believe that she was not the first child to be imprisoned there . . .
Lola Jaye has created a hauntingly powerful, emotionally charged and unique dual-narrative novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging, seen through the lens of Black British History in The Attic Child.
‘This is important storytelling about issues of race and privilege . . . that will stay with me for a long time’ – Tracy Chevalier
‘Just brilliant’ – Dorothy Koomson
‘Powerful and emotional’ – Lisa Jewell
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