Part of Series
From Europe to Africa to the Caribbean, this first installment in the Alma trilogy tells a gripping story of hope, perseverance, and love that readers will not soon forget. 1786. Isolated from the rest of the world, thirteen-year-old Alma lives with her family in a lush African valley. She spends her days exploring their blissful homeland. But everything changes when her little brother finds a secret way out of the valley. Alma sets out to find him, but she soon must face terrible dangers in a continent ravaged by the slave trade. The journey to bring her brother home becomes a harrowing adventure to save herself, her family, and the memory of her people. Meanwhile, in Lisbon, Joseph Mars, an orphan turned petty thief devises a great plan to land himself aboard a slave ship, The Sweet Amelie, on the ultimate quest—to find a pirate’s treasure in the far reaches of the Caribbean. But as time passes, he learns he is not alone in his hunger for the treasure, which forces Joseph to rethink the true purpose of his presence aboard The Sweet Amelie. The destinies of a large cast of characters, including Alma and Joseph, become intertwined both on land and at sea in this unforgettable adventure of resilience and compassion as de Fombelle quietly elucidates the slave trade and the infamous Middle Passage for middle grade and YA readers.
Author
As a child... Timothee de Fombelle was born in the heart of Paris in 1973, but often accompanied his architect father on his travels to Africa. Each summer his family left for the countryside (the west of France), where the five brothers and sisters lived like wild horses, making huts in the trees, playing in the river and losing themselves in the woods. In the evening they performed plays for their parents and devoured the books in the library. Childhood remains for him the lost paradise which he re-discovers through writing. As an adult... After becoming a literature teacher, Timothee taught in Paris and Vietnam before choosing the bohemian life of the theatre. Author of a dozen plays, he writes, designs, builds sets and directs the actress he admires the most, his wife Laetitia. They have a young daughter, Jeanne Elisha, who already loves climbing trees. Toby Alone is his first novel and has already been translated into 22 languages. As an artist... Passionate about books and theatre, Timothee has been writing since he was young. The stage has been his testing ground but it is life, with its joys and trials, which inspires his real work. A great traveller, Timothee recognises that the writing of Toby Alone has been his best journey so far.
