A Chance Child

A child who is singled out by his mother for abuse, called nothing but Creep, has only his older brother to help him and sneak food for him until redevelopment next door damages the wall of their tenement flat and breaches the closet he's locked in. He leaves the house, makes his way across the broken bricks of the construction site to the old canal. And finds himself in the days of the Industrial Revolution. Life is not much easier for him, and abuse of children is rife, but the world is wider and he begins to make his own way. Meanwhile, back in 20th century England, his brother is trying desperately to find him.

There's an unforgettable episode in which the brother, clearly a child of the working class, asks the history teacher at one show more of the posh schools for help in his research. (He's come to recognize, or half-believe at least, that "Creep" is somewhen in the past.) The teacher is dismissive at first and then deeply impressed by the boy's insight into what history is: at his school they don't teach history, just "topics". Classism is touched on in a meaningful way, and then the story continues.

A book worth reading more than once. show less

I approached this book with caution because I've read too many children's novels (most of them Australian admittedly) that are simply thinly disguised history or cultural studies lessons, with a pretense at a story on top. And there's certainly an element of that in this book. However, I can forgive the history lesson because the journey of the characters is so fascinating and the characters themselves are wonderful. The prose is beautifully descriptive and metaphoric - at times too much so. The descriptions can get in the way of remaining lost in and believing in the fictional world. The perspective of the child characters is sometimes depicted in such "adult" language that their reality is lost.

I can also forgive it because it was show more written at just the time that I found a wonderful English friend with exciting stories to tell, and a fierce resentment and distrust of "the welfare". It was an attitude that I had never previously encountered and, without a frame of reference, couldn't even begin to comprehend. I had, in fact, never even heard of "the welfare" before I met my friend, let alone considered them as a body to be feared. But here are found the same language and the same attitudes, reminding me powerfully of being 10 years old and dreaming of England... show less