Searching for the Remarkable in Things

Mary, Georgia, 1851 'My Momma always told me that, one day, remarkable things would happen to me. ‘No, Mary,’ I hear her say, voice dripping like treacle, ‘not happen to you; you will do remarkable things.’ Not now though, trapped and with no room to properly breathe – nowhere to look even but the sky above and the earth under my feet pressed flat on the ground from working and walking from dawn until the sun sets low in a stretched wide sky of cerise and crimson. For now, my space to breathe is inside. In that little pocket deep deep within my chest or heart or something – the bit they can’t touch.'   Clover has felt so alone since her mother passed away - there was only ever Mum and Clover and they were a team. That is until Clover discovers a box of old letters, dating back to 1851, where the voice of a young woman will tell Clover about her true heritage and the dark secrets that Mum hid from her. A YA novel by debut author, Natalie Lucy about the intergenerational legacy of enslavement. 

About the Author :
Dr Natalie Lucy was born in Maldon, Essex, and now lives in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. She holds a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature, and a PhD from University College London, where her research focused on Caribbean and British literature and folklore. As part of her doctoral studies, she completed a six-month placement at the British Library. Searching for the Remarkable in Things is her debut novel.

Review :
This powerful and engaging novel explores slavery from both the nineteenth century African slave trade and modern slavery. But Lucy has focused her modern sections on a family discovering how they have historically benefited from the slave trade: a very current topic in the UK and America. Clover, thirteen is grieving the death of her mother and struggling to relate to a father she hasn't seen since she was six. Father and daughter end up in Cornwall but as Clover reads letters hidden away in her mother's secret box, the family's connection to the slave trade in the 1850s is revealed. Meanwhile on lonely walks over the cliffs, Clover meets a strange girl. Caterina, older than Clover, who looks neglected and scared. But Clover cannot imagine the secrets that Caterina won't share with her. As the layers of stories unravel through letters and documents, Clover and Caterina share a search for the Remarkable in Things, a way of keeping hope alive in times of despair and hardship. This is a book of great bravery against the odds and how even the most tortured slaves kept their sense of self in remarkable ways. As Clover begins to come to terms with her grief the stories from the past entwine with Caterina's story, helping Clover to find a way to look forward to the future. 'A remarkable and important story of freedom, enslavement and the unravelling of secrets, featuring a patchwork of characters skilfully stitched together. It speaks of things lost and rediscovered, spanning both continents and centuries - I read it in one sitting.'