Birdie is an orphan living in an orphanage. She was left on the doorstep of a church with a note containing her name - Birdie Bagshaw and a bunch of turnips. Unlike nearly every other orphanage story I have ever read Birdie is happy and she is given care and love and even good food keeping in mind that it is just after the war and so food is scarce.
Then a distant relative locates her, and she is sent away from the orphanage in Leeds to a small mining village to live with her great aunt and uncle - people she has never met.
Right from the beginning Birdie is taunted and treated cruelly for being different. You may have guessed why if you look closely at the cover of this book. She runs away from school on the first day and finds herself under the ground in a coal mine that is due to be closed down. That is where she finds the pony. Her uncle later explains:
"I wanted to explain to't lass how brave they are. They're unsung heroes. Folk forget that without them, coal industry would have come to a standstill. And them horse and ponies gave their all. Many a man I've known has been saved by a pony."
Birdie is so worried about the pony.
"She'd wondered what he was doing: was he sleeping, eating? Was he just wandering around in the dark tunnels. Or worse still, was he lonely like she was? Was he dreaming of faraway fields, of the sweetness of cherry blossoms, of wildflowers up to his knees, moving in the wind. Because there'd be no sunshine for him, no crisp air. Down in the mine, down in the centre of the earth, there was no day or night, only an everlasting darkness."
I almost read this book in one sitting. It is a measure of how much the story absorbed me that I rushed home from a morning appointment in order to keep reading. There are some wonderful moments in the final pages of this book and the ending will melt your heart. This story is a personal one for the author who was also a 'child of colour' living in Manchester in the 1970s. Like Birdie she was put into foster care and like Birdie she lived in a small mining village. There are also back notes about pit ponies, the history of coal mining in the UK and the special children's homes that took in children like Birdie:
"During World War Two, there were around two thousand babies born to white British women and African American soldiers, who'd been stationed in the UK ... Many of them were rejected by their families and society, not only for having a child 'out of wedlock', but for having a relationship with a person of colour."
Birdie will tug at the heart strings Books for Keeps
Bookseller blurb: When Birdie is sent to live with her great-aunt in 1950s Yorkshire, she befriends the village's last remaining pit pony. A story of hope and courage, exploring themes of family, racism and identity. Birdie Bagshaw has never known her parents. Having grown up in a children's home for mixed race children in 1950s Leeds, now she has come to live with her great-aunt in the Yorkshire Dales. From her arrival, Birdie is treated like an outsider by the local children. When their bullying drives Birdie to hide in the nearby coal mine, she finds an unexpected rescuer in the form of Mr Duke, the last remaining pit pony in the village. As the weeks pass, Birdie forms a special bond with the spirited little pony. But his future is in danger, and Birdie comes up with a daring plan to save his life in return.
This BookTrust review has more plot details.
J.P. Rose was born in Manchester but was raised in Yorkshire after her adoption. Growing up she suffered extreme racism, though she continued to be proud of her diverse and rich Jamaican, Nigerian and Anglo-Irish heritage. She trained as an actress but eventually moved into writing, and she is now the author of numerous novels for adults.
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