Until I read the winner of last year's Goldsmith's Prize, I had never heard of the Chagos Islands and the forced deportation of the islanders in the 1960s to Mauritius - an incident that made me ashamed of the British government. This sad little novella is a fictionalised account of the removal of this people and the way that the sorrow of exile has affected their lives. The poignant image of Charlesia in her red headscarf standing on the quay waiting for a boat to take her home - a boat that will never come. The contrast between the life on Chagos and life on Mauritius is stark. The afterword in which the author describes the events and how even in present day the struggle is still continuing is worth reading. My only criticism is the dialogue in the Chagossian dialect - I felt that there needed to be some translation. However, a worthwhile read.