I think Sarah Crossan is an incredible writer. She has told some challenging tales for adults and YA readers and they're all so very different. What's more, she often writes in free verse.

I was surprised to find that I had overlooked this book from her - it was first published in March last year. It is set in Ireland in the famine of 1846, and different again from all her previous books.

Nell works as a scullery maid in the kitchen of the Big House for Sir Philip Wicken, who owns her family's home, land and crops. Everything belongs to him. And whereas Nell loved school and dreamed of the life she might lead one day, she is far from being able to see it become a reality - her lot is to serve Sir Philip just like all her family and neighbours.

There is hope for a different future, though, when she meets Johnny Browning, Wicken's nephew who's arrived from England and will one day inherit everything. The young couple cling to each other while hunger and disease surrounds them in their different families, community and circumstances. 

It's a love story and a very affecting tale of a period in history when a nation suffered under landlords and famine. The sparse but powerful language brings depth and meaning to the story which though simply sold is terribly moving and troubling.