A Breath of Fresh Air

The title is repeated at various points in the book and takes on a range of meanings to fit this clever and powerful evocation of the slave trade and one modern girl's reliving of its horrors. The historical details are used with flair so that the past seems to break out of the modern Bristol setting and we are caught, with Amy and seven hundred others, aboard the slave ship which is part of the triangular trade between Africa, England and the West Indies. The factual base allows the author to spin her imaginative web with power and compassion.