The Attic Child Audiobook By Lola Jaye cover art

The Attic Child

A powerful and heartfelt historical novel, shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards

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The Attic Child

By: Lola Jaye
Narrated by: Lucian Msamati, Nneka Okoye
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Longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2023.

Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, 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 . . .

Decades 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 . . .

Lola Jaye has created a hauntingly powerful, emotionally charged and unique dual-narrative novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging, seen through the lens of Black British History in The Attic Child.

'An incredibly important book . . . a beautifully crafted, compelling story . . . which will undoubtedly break your heart but also make it sing.' - Mike Gayle

'This is important storytelling about issues of race and privilege . . .that will stay with me for a long time.' - Tracy Chevalier

'Just brilliant.' - Dorothy Koomson

'Powerful and emotional' - Lisa Jewell

 Historical Fiction African American

Critic reviews

Bruising, yet hopeful epic novel. . . Emotional and evocative, The Attic Child is a powerful tale of trauma, identity and survival.
An incredibly important book giving breath to voices we sadly seldom hear, Lola Jaye’s The Attic Child is a beautifully crafted, compelling story crossing continents and time which will undoubtedly break your heart but also make it sing. (Mike Gayle, author of Dinner for Two)
The Attic Child is an impressive feat of imagination, and a great example of how one photograph can inspire a whole world. The interlinked stories of two children moved and upset me in all the right ways. This is important storytelling about issues of race and privilege and abuse, and a book that will stay with me for a long time. (Tracy Chevalier, author of A Single Thread)
The Attic Child could be Lola’s best book yet. Her writing is on another level, with characters and a story that grab you from the first page and don't let go until the very end. Just brilliant. (Dorothy Koomson, author of My Other Husband)
I was definitely in tears by the end! There is so much to say about this story. Lola Jaye has given us such a creative way of examining privilege, identity, trauma and whiteness in both eras. (Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish))
A powerful and emotional journey, that will break your heart and put it back together again. (Lisa Jewell, author of The Family Remains)
Heart-breaking and timely - Lola Jaye's first epic historical novel is an emotional roller coaster of a ride (Trisha Ashley, author of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop)
An evocative, emotional, beautifully written and captivating novel. (Rowan Coleman, author of The Red Monarch)
Strong, memorable characters and an unputdownable story . . . Powerfully affecting (Gill Paul, author of The Manhattan Girls)
As educational as it was exceptional. I was nowhere near ready for it to end. It was heartbreakingly sad yet life affirming and full of hope. One of the most important books you’ll read all year. (John Marrs, bestselling author of the Netflix sensation The One)
With The Attic Child, Lola Jaye has created something truly special. An epic, historical novel that is as informative and fascinating about a period in history, as it is deeply moving. Above all, it’s a beautiful testament to the strength of the human spirit. I’ve been telling everyone I know about it. (Katy Regan, author of How to Find Your Way Home)
An ambitious novel carried out to perfection. This epic tale had me utterly engrossed from first page to last. It's heart-breaking yet powerful and inspiring and so, so wonderful. Dikembe is a hero I will never forget (Tracy Rees, Bestselling author of Amy Snow and The Rose Garden)
A powerful and timely book, compelling, heart-breaking yet hopeful and very, very special. (Alex Brown, author of A Postcard from Capri)
Hauntingly powerful.
All stars
Most relevant
The book explores two children living in different times within the same house, connected by an attic. Celestine Dikembe who is taken from his home country of Congo and brought to the UK by Sir Richard and Lowra who was born and raised in the UK.

The book jumps between the two timelines as it tries to explain why this attic connects these two children.

Lowra's story is very common—the typical wicked stepmother who abuses the stepchild.

I connected strongly with the character of Celestine as it had more depth, and it's not a common story arc.

With Celestine, we get the perspective of a nine-year-old boy who was given away by his family to an explorer, Sir Richard, for his survival.

Because Celestine is young, naïve, and sheltered, he doesn't understand that he will not return home when he is taken by Sir Richard, and his parents don't have that discussion with him.

The book didn't go how I expected it to go. I was almost bracing for Celestine to be mistreated by Sir Richard, but he never was. At least not directly or intentionally.
That is not a common narrative, and I liked that the author took that approach to show that some people can be well-meaning within a broken system and unintentionally contribute to it.


It was sad to see how Celestine's skin colour dictated the treatment he received in the UK by the people in the community, those at school and even Sir Richard's staff.

It was heartbreaking to witness him navigating the limitations imposed on him because of his skin colour and origin, despite his diligence, excellence, and resolve to succeed, but I'm grateful that the book has a good ending, even though, in practice, many people never receive a happy ending.

The book has a lot of tension throughout, where things are implied but not outwardly addressed. For example, we see through Sir Richard's writings, which were discovered after his death, that he had sexual thoughts about Celestine, and we're also able to pick up through some scenes that some behaviours were strange, but they are never addressed.

So you end up with mixed feelings about Sir Richard because, although he participated in this explorer system, he also tried to take good care of Celestine by treating him well, giving him a good education and leaving him an inheritance after his death. The author also develops Richard's character well, telling us about his past and what led him to become an alcoholic, though indirectly.

My only critique is that the book requires some understanding of what an explorer is and why there's a negative connotation around them. The book doesn't explicitly position them as bad guys, but there are enough hints to suggest that there's a complex history there. The book also felt unnecessarily long at times.

I have read a few books with the Africa-to-America storyline and the challenges that come with it, but it was interesting to see a similar storyline in a British setting.

Overall, I think the book was well written, and I always appreciate an author who makes me reflect.

Nneka is also one of my favourite narrators on Audible. She's incredibly gifted and knows how to bring a story to life, so I was very grateful for the narration on this book.

Well written book

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