Publication Date: 12 September 2024

Welcome to my stop on The Last Boy Blog Tour, featuring a fascinating guest post from Eve McDonnell.

The Blurb

A magical page-turner inspired by the true story of George Brewster, the last child chimney sweep. Brewster has been sold to a cruel Master Sweep to risk his life up the narrow jungle of chimneys to reach the sky. But Brewster has a SECRET: he’s a wizard with numbers and he’s predicted a terrifying storm of stars. Upon each star he’ll cast his passionate wish to be the last climbing boy EVER. When a powerful woman offers to make his wish come true, Brewster is challenged to do something impossible in return… A WISH FOR A WISH!

The Review

A captivating historical fantasy that brilliantly blends real-life history with elements of magic, making it an exciting and emotional read for young readers and adults alike.

Inspired by the harrowing true story of George Brewster, the last recorded child chimney sweep in England, Eve has crafted a tale that is both touching and thrilling. Her enthralling story expertly weaves the grim realities of child labour in Victorian times with the enchantment of a magical world where the promise of a wish holds immense power.

At the heart of the story is Brewster’s wish to be the last climbing boy ever, a wish born out of desperation and a desire for freedom, not just for himself but for all children forced into this brutal line of work. His life is dictated by the dangerous and suffocating work of climbing inside chimneys to clean them, a task that risks his life daily. His escape comes from his astounding mathematical abilities and secret trips into a library full of the information he needs to complete his calculations. Eve does not shy away from portraying the harsh conditions child laborers faced, and the devastating effects their job had on their health.

A story of resilience, magic, and the enduring human spirit, The Last Boy is a must read for anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a twist of fantasy.

The Guest Post by Eve McDonnell

Soot & Serendipity!

It’s easy to appreciate why people liken writing a novel to running a marathon – it takes preparation, training and time not to mention the willpower and energy to simply keep going. Now I’m no athlete, but I’m sure that somewhere in there, fuel is needed too – maybe that’s a tonne of protein, copious amounts of fitness or courageous ambition – and a writer will tell you fuel is needed to write a book too.

It has taken me some time to realise that my fuel is not tea or biscuits, or infinite drive and determination. It’s wonder – wonder in the form of serendipity, in the form of signs and superstition, of happenchance and coincidence, because, when the going gets tough, they drop in and pat me on the shoulder – keep going, they say, this way.

I am no fool, and believe it or not, my head is not always in the clouds. I know how it might sound when I begin another one of my ‘you’ll never believe what just happened’ tales of coincidences so wild that they are simply unbelievable. They are unbelievable to me too – but they are unexpected happenings so unexplainable that perhaps I am left with no choice but to believe. In The Last Boy, Brewster our young chimney sweep also grapples with the rational versus irrational dilemma when he uses his knowledge to predict a comet and the storm of stars it will bring solely for the purpose of casting his wish to be the last ‘climbing boy’ on every single one …

‘Why did superstition seem to come easy to everyone but him? He suddenly wanted to stuff his pockets with their ability to believe in such things, be they for the good or bad, for wasn’t wishing on a falling star a superstition too? Without it, the falling stars were dust and nothing more. His head said superstitions only existed where knowledge lacked. His heart said superstitions only existed when you dared to hope.’

Throughout the writing of The Last Boy, the strangest coincidences and signs did cross my path, most of which I keep close to my heart, and I took courage from each and every one. One such coincidence reassured me when I worried if I was doing the right thing plucking Brewster from his real home of Cambridge over to Birr Castle in Ireland – they had absolutely zero connection, or so I thought. Brewster in The Last Boy bickers with young Charles of Birr, a character based on scientist Charles Parsons who lived in the castle. It would be intriguing, I thought, to put Brewster in the company of someone at the opposite end of the society – a peacock and a worm, as Brewster himself describes. Reassurance came when I discovered that, of all the places in the world he could study, the real Charles attended university next to the real Brewster’s home in Cambridge, and so, perhaps their paths really did cross. Perhaps Brewster even swept his chimney! In addition, I had also included a tutor to the story – Professor Ball – only to discover that the real Sir Robert Ball, tutor to the real Lord and Lady Rosse’s children, moved from Ireland to Cambridge too in later life, and his final resting place was a mere 40ft from Brewster’s front door.

There are countless other coincidences, but one shook me to the core. I wrote The Last Boy when Brewster’s Comet was at its furthest point from us and our sun – its Aphelion – and on completing the story, and in a desperate attempt to keep Brewster close to my heart, I spent some time researching census records in search of the real boy. I found him, and I discovered something that would rattle even the most sceptical of us: the name of the street where George Brewster lived as a child was Comet Yard. Was it merely down to coincidence that I should choose to bring a comet into Brewster’s story, or was there more to it than that? Like Brewster, I am taking that serendipitous link as a sign – a sign that his story might have already been written in the stars, but it was time for me to write it down on paper.

So, I am a strong believer that a hope-filled heart trumps a knowledge-filled mind, every time. What about you?

Eve

Huge thanks to Eve for sharing the startling links between The Last Boy and real life, which makes this enthralling story all the more heartfelt. And, thanks to Everything With Words for sending me a copy of the book, and inviting me to take part in the blog tour. Do make sure you check out all of the other stops.