A gorgeous literary debut in the tradition of THE POISONWOOD BIBLE about a school for the children of British missionaries in China, at the top of a mountain, at the edge of the Second World War.
A brilliantly distinctive debut, told from the perspective of one of the most unforgettable child narrators in recent fiction.
Jiangxi Province, China, 1941. Atop the fabled mountain of Lushan perches a boarding school for the children of British missionaries. While her parents pursue their calling, ten-year-old Henrietta S. Robertson discovers that she, too, has been singled out by the Lord.
As Japanese invaders draw closer, Etta and her dorm mates retreat into a world where boundaries between make believe and reality become dangerously blurred. So begins a remarkable journey, through a mystical landscape and to the heart of a war.
[A] beautifully imagined novel, at times whimsical and at others harrowing - Sunday Express S Magazine
Set in a missionary school in China... carries echoes of Empire of the Sun and The Poisonwood Bible - Observer (2016 Highlights)
A richly imagined novel that cleverly intertwines two cultures - Daily Mail
Infused with a delicate, melancholy note of nostalgia, Mackenzie's depiction of a bygone world is vividly realised - Independent
Mackenzie is a self-assured, poetic storyteller... This is a wonderful, special book. I inhaled it - Red