Songs of Expectation

A novel based on actual events, a shameful and little-known aspect of British history when orphan and pauper children were sent to Canada as cheap labour. Around 10% of Canada’s population is descended from them.

This novel is inspired by a true story.

London, 1881, and another party of child migrants sets sail for Canada, leaving behind all they know in search of a new life. Taken from the slums and workhouses of Britain, they are set to work as labourers and servants, building a nation in a foreign land. Among them is Mary Oliver, desperate to fulfil a promise she made to her dying father; Arthur Dilkes, to whom emigration is just another adventure; Sam Barney, who longs for a new family to replace the one he has lost; Margaret Walsh, who cannot forget the father she has left behind; and Lily, who does not even have a surname to call her own. All are unprepared for the prejudice and hostility they will face, and the obstacles they must overcome. All struggle to escape their pasts.

Presiding over them and countless others is Alice Hamilton, obsessed with making her mark in a man’s world, whose mission to ‘save’ these children is called into question by a series of tragic events.

A story of heartbreak and courage, Songs of Expectation shines a light on a shameful chapter in British history.

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