The Village by the Sea

The beautiful, remote village of Tranto on Nature Island (Dominica) is paradise for nine-year-old Crystal. She barely remembers cold, rainy England, the land of her birth, or her parents. Cared for by her devoted grandmother, and surrounded by friends, Crystal doesn't mind that the shortage of work in the Caribbean means her parents must stay in Britain. When Crystal's aunt takes her to have her picture taken in the nearest town, Crystal little knows that bigger events are being set in motion. Soon her mother arrives on the island and Crystal finds herself taken from the only home and family she knows.

In England, she struggles to cope with her schizophrenic cousin and emotionally distant mother until she can start a new life for herself. Only life soon comes full circle and Crystal is once more enmeshed in the difficulties of a divided family and the question of where her home really is.