The Thames carried him away from her but would it bring him home? Twelve-year-old Eliza Bragg has known little in life but the cold comfortless banks of the Thames Living above her uncle's chandlery she has grown accustomed to a life of penury & servitude her only comfort the love & protection of her older brother Bart But one day Bart accidentally kills a man & is forced to flee to New Zealand Alone barefoot beaten down & at the mercy of her cruel uncle Eliza realises that her very survival is at stake