For fans of Educated, this is the remarkable true story of a girl from a Romani Ghetto in search of a better life.

‘My mother’s side of the family are Romani. Gypsies. No baby-snatching and tambourines, just resilient souls and richly coloured skin. I look most like them, with my brown eyes and scars. I don’t have the richly coloured skin, though. Instead of deep bronze or golden ochre, I came out the colour of sunflower oil and, thanks to childhood malnutrition followed by years of low iron levels, I’m now the shade of an off-brand Simpson.’

Eliska Tanzer is a dreamer.

Born into a family of prostitutes in a Romani ghetto, she grows up in squalid conditions, with no running water, no education, and no future.

Desperate to make her own way in the world, Eliska sets in motion a chain of events that will lead her to England, to school, and to within inches of her dreams.

But the brutalities of her new life threaten to turn the dream into a nightmare.

This is her story. A true story of resilience, determination, and hunger to learn. A story of a girl on the brink.

A moving and timely memoir from a powerful new voice in literature.