by Sufiya Ahmed
“Remember what I told you, the streets of London are not paved with gold. There are hidden corners full of darkness from were monsters emerge. You must always be vigilant.”
An energetic, stirring adventure starring two children, Humza and Ranj, from Bombay who take a perilous journey to Victorian London, only to be confronted by dangers lurking on every filth-drenched street.
An author’s note elaborates on the novel’s key historical source: the kidnapping of children by the British from India during the 1800s who were then sold to wealthy people in England, including “the sick and strange rich people of London”. In the novel, this villainy is embodied by the chilling, looming figure of Basil Brookes who prowls London’s docks and snatches children off the street.
Menacing as this threat is, Ahmed holds her young readers close, respecting her historical material but also offering hope and optimism largely through her wonderful cast of characters made up of Indian and English activists, agitators and campaigners. Refreshingly these acts of protest embrace working class, everyday Indians and Londoners, including: Dani, Humza’s brother, who challenges wage inequalities between English and Indian sailors; residents of the real-life Strangers’ Home (Limehouse, London) who offer safety and rehabilitation to their fellow lascars; the working class innkeeper father and daughter duo who first take in Humza and Ranj. But, of course, most central of all are our two heroes who are not only on a rescue mission and are not only busy surviving but are also quick to discover and expose the hurdles of injustices which threaten to block their paths.
“Exciting, adventurous, informative and scary throughout” (Meryl, EY Consultant & Trainer, Letterbox Library reviewer). A thrill-full story which entertains as much as it enjoys an abundance of UK historical material, listed here for all of you history geeks/educators..: the unjust treatment of ‘retired’ lascars on UK soil; the British trade in children of colour across continents, including their imprisonment and use as ‘entertainment’ in circuses and private homes; colonial forces in India; the encroachment of British Missionaries in India and Australia; the deportation of convicts to Australia and the wilful ignorance of existing First Nation communities; reference to Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. Age 9-12, Paperback 201pp
£7.99