Not only is Pauline black in the predominately white British society of the 1970s but she is left-handed and suffers from ignorance of such differences. As if the child does not have enough imposed on her she becomes the victim of abuse by her house parent’s son who in the early chapters is shaping up to be a psychopath, she later becomes the victim of attempted rape and is abused by another boy who also abuses his sister. The only mortal friend she makes in the home dies and becomes one of the angels she converses with.

Pauline's African mother Wumni, enters and exits her life often enough to cause major disruption and soon the small child turns to petty crime. Meanwhile the Barnardo's village, the only stable influence in her life, is in a bad way. Their school and swimming pool closes and Pauline's house parents leave.

When Pauline attends schools she discovers she is clever and good at chess, but her imaginary friends make her so unruly she almost misses sitting her 11 plus exam.

Wumni re-enters her life just when things start to go well for the girl, a rich man wants to adopt her as a play mate for his daughter, a bit like Heidi! She is forced into a harrowing life of beatings and cruelty at the hands of her mother, eased only slightly by the arrival of her older half sister from Africa. Having tried religion earlier in her life Pauline now turns to Black Magic as her escape route from her tortured life.

Eventually the school alerts the social services to the abuse and Pauline is taken back into care, but the damage has been done. Influenced by superstitious belief and haunted by recurring dreams of her reincarnated body, the girl moves into a life of crime and squalor. It is only when she is put into a young offenders institution that Pauline becomes enlightened as to the true meaning of her birth, her life and her mother’s cruel treatment of her.

This sounds like a grim tale but it is filled with caring, friendships and humour. One leaves the book with a feeling of hope.

The novel is well laid out in linear fashion which allows the reader to grow with Pauline and her story. The excellent narrative voice moves through the years with the girl from innocent baby, to naive young girl then edgy, defensive teenager.

The character does not ask for sympathy - she simply wants to tell her story. The narrative is straight forward using clear, simple language with vivid description and strong sense of place. The symbolic dream and reincarnation scenes inject quantities of African magic into the text and add an ephemeral quality to the story.

Although I am sure that most of the events in this story have happened to children in care, there was an element of cliché thickly spread throughout the novel which made the strong main character often appear as a willing victim. One wonders if that was the author intention.

Part of the profits from this novel goes to Barnardo's homes but the author has also given the reader a great insight into the work of Dr Barnardo's homes in the seventies and the work they continue to do for today's disadvantaged children.

The novel leaves you wanting to know what happened to Pauline. If the story is autobiographical, she has done well!

Moira McPartlin is a Scot with Irish roots. She began writing and attending creative writing classes at Strathclyde University in Glasgow in 2000 as a release from a busy career in Finance. She writes shorts stories and dabbles in poetry and has made a pledge to herself that in 2006 she will submit at least one new piece of work each month. For the past year Moira has contributed book reviews to www.laurahird.com. She is taking a year break from her career to concentrate on writing her first novel which she hopes to complete by December 2006. She has two adult sons and lives in Glasgow with her husband.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.