About this Book

South Africa is the only home Ella has ever known, but her relationship with her parents is strained by their past back in Holland. Her mother, who lost the sister after whom Ella is named, struggles to be present for her young daughter. Her father, a former soldier, relives his grand adventures while raging against his present life. The two are so wrapped up in their own lives and losses that Ella exists largely outside of their attention, slipping through the shadows from which she watches their anguish and anger. But when his attention is turned to his daughter, He is often cruel and cold. He projects onto her his deep rage, engaging his young daughter in a silent battle that carries over into her future, when an act of omission leaves her stranded in a suddenly dangerous South Africa.