Anila's Journey - Tapa blanda

Short of time travel, this book is the next best thing to experiencing life in 18th century India. Pulsing with the sights and sounds of place and period, a confident, polished work it is, suitable not just for the teenage market, but adults too. -- Martina Devlin * Irish Independent * This book was deeply emotional and absolutely unique - I have never read anything quite like it. I loved this gripping story and I couldn't put this book down! -- Maia Harvey, 12 * First News * Wonderfully mature. The language is precise and evocative, the philosophy deep but kind. A very literary piece of historical fiction which will entrance sophisticated readers of all ages. Beautifully written and for once we are treated to a strong female character who isn't the least bit anachronistic. -- Jill Murphy * www.thebookbag.co.uk * A remarkable book...a writer to watch. -- Mary Hoffman * The Guardian * The reader's perseverance is repaid many times over by this story of a talented young girl's struggles in an 18th century man's world, with echoes of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as well as Jane Austen and the Brontes sisters. * Cork Evening Echo (Eire) * The writing is beautiful ... this is a book to saviour and read slowly and deliciously. * Dublin Evening Herald * Finn writes beautifully , her passages depicting nature and birds, and hopes and dreams, are particularly powerful. This is an extremely enjoyable and accomplished debut. * The Irish Times * Would be loved by teenagers. [....]You could give it to an intelligent 10 or 11 year-old girl who would live in it. I would have loved it at the age of about 12, I would have lived in it; on the other hand I'm not 12 and I thought it was so immersing. So good. I would recommend it to every female from 10 upwards. -- Kate Saunders * Radio 2 - Aled Jones, Good Morning Sun * A glorious romance that deserves to be enjoyed. * Books for Keeps * An evocative, lovely, compelling read. * Newbury Weekly News *

An advert in the Calcutta Gazette is looking for an apprentice draughtsman to accompany a scholar on an expedition to record avian life in Bengal. How can Anila Tandy, left to fend for herself in a city of rogues, dare to apply for a position that is clearly not meant for her? But the talented “Bird Girl of Calcutta” has never shrunk from a challenge. And perhaps this voyage up the Ganges might be just the thing to equip Anila in her search for her father, missing for years and presumed dead.