2022 Book Review #35: The Attic Child

 

This is historical fiction at its finest.  This book is so well written.  I savored every page.

STORY SUMMARY

Two children are separated by a century....but...they're bound together by a secret.....

Dikembe is 11 years old when he is taken from his mama and his homeland (the Congo in Africa).  He is taken by Sir Richard Babbington, a British explorer and hunter.  It is the early 1900s.  Sir Richard tries to "refine" him and train him to be an English gentleman, however, shortly after arriving in England at the house in Ranklin, Sir Richard dies leaving the house to relatives (The Mayhews).  Suddenly, Dikembe, now known as Celestine Babbington is forced into being a household servant and locked in the attic when he isn't serving Agatha and Cyril. As the years pass, Celestine/Dikembe struggles to remember his mama's face....and sometimes even his real name......when Cyril divorces Agatha, things get much worse for Celestine. Agatha is not what she appears to be........and Celestine longs for freedom....will he ever be free??

Lowra, a young orphan girl is just 11 years old in 1974 when she finds herself trapped in the very same attic as Celestine was a century ago. She was born into wealth and privelege but soon becomes a cowering abused pre-teen at the hands of her father's (now deceased) 2nd wife. As she searches for a ray of light in the dark attic, Lowra finds a message scrawled into the wall.  It is an unidentifiable language and under the floorboards of the attic she finds an old-fashioned pen, a porcelain doll, and a beaded African necklace. These things provide comfort to her when all hope is lost.  However, one day in the future (1993) these clues will lead her to uncover the secrets of the attic, resulting in meeting an almost 100 year old Dikembe.  

How will they discover each other?  Will Dikembe tell his story?  

MY THOUGHTS

I love historical fiction and this book is written by an author I was unfamiliar with.  In the end of the book, the author explains exactly why she wrote this story and how it is based on a real photograph she saw at an exhibition in England. 

The plot is wonderful and isn't confusing at all with the parallel stories each getting their own chapter and title.  She is good about giving voice to the two main characters and includes which year it is. 

The character development is very well done and I feel like these people are real. Their stories are so similar to what really happened to black people and to orphans. 

The main themes in this book are love, loss, identity issues, abandonment, family secrets, betrayal, belonging, racism, abuse, forgiveness and perseverance. 

It is hauntingly beautiful and powerful.

Some quotes that jumped out at me (and in which the author explains one in the back of the book and quotes before the actual story begins):

"Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." ~African proverb, quoted by Chinua Achebe in "The Art of Fiction" The Paris Review, no. 130 (and after the title page in The Attic Child by Lola Jaye, c.2022)

"Because what if by allowing myself to feel his pain, it uncovered my own? My own truths, my own secrets?" (pg 183)

Every British and American reader should read this important historical fiction. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.