What the Heart Keeps

Lisa is an English orphan from Leeds who is sent to Canada as a "home girl" in 1903. These were children and young people that were " exported" from Great Britain to her colonies in Australia, Canada, and South Africa to be adopted and/or employed as domestic help. Although guidelines and safeguards were set up to ensure the children were placed in good homes, abuse of the system happened rather frequently. Lisa's experiences in England, across Canada, and the US Pacific Northwest are difficult but there are also times of great joy. We follow her life until just before the outbreak of WWII.


Genre: Literary Fiction