#Blogtour The Attic Child by Lola Jaye

It is absolutely a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Attic Child by Lola Jaye. It's a fantastic read.

About the Author

Lola Jaye is an author and registered psychotherapist. She was born and raised in London and has lived in Nigeria and the United States. She has a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Psychotherapy and Counselling. She has contributed to the sequel to the bestseller Lean In, penned by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and has also written for the Huffington Post, CNN, Essence, HuffPost and the BBC.

She is a member of the Black Writers’ Guild and the author of five previous novels. The Attic Child is her first epic historical novel. Follow @LolaJaye on Twitter

About the book

Two children separated by almost a century, 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. 

Almost a century 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 . . . 

Review

I'm not sure there is any right way to review this in regards to the white privilege I acknowledge and access, and the frame of reference through which I experienced this read. White guilt is unwanted and white saviourism is a concept created only to sooth the conscience of deep seated roots of colonialism, and the waves of destruction it has caused.

I found the story of Dikembe incredibly sad, and the actions of the man who bought him as a show pony exemplar, are just despicable. It's hard to fathom how people could disassociate themselves with the concept of  humanity in other races, believing themselves superior and virtuous, whilst treating others like commodities. 

Equally I was moved by Lowra's story, but on a different level. The voice of neglect and abuse is one to be heard and remembered. The connection between the two characters is a shared experience of being invisible, forgotten and never good enough. It's that bond and force of nature, the strength of endurance, that creates a strong legacy from the past, present and into the future.

This is definitely going on my best reads of the year list. I loved it. I can't wait to read more by Jaye - what an incredible writer. The way history, white privilege and colonialism is woven silently into the plot. There is no placard with a silent scream of anger, disappointment, sorrow or pain. There is only fact, fate, truth and acknowledgement of guilt. 

This is only one voice of many silent ones, faction and hard reality melded with a creative flair to create this compelling story of displacement, abuse, racism and identity. An excellent read.

Buy The Attic Child at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Pan MacMillan 28th April 2022 | Hardback - £14.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Pan MacMillan.