'Bonaparte kills people.' 'Bonaparte is coming as a prisoner, child. He can't hurt anyone now.' 'He eats children,' said Gracie. As long as Gracie could remember, she had been told stories of Napoleon Bonaparte, who would stop at nothing to rule the world and plant the French flag on the Tower of London. Now, the most famous, the most dreaded man is coming to the very island where she lives. St Helena is like a small ship stuck fast in the ocean, far away from anywhere. When Napoleon Bonaparte arrives, in 1815, Gracie wants to run away, but she has nowhere to go. Errol Broome tells the extraordinary story of an emperor who saw the courage of a hard-working young girl, and a girl who saw the other face of the man they called the Emperor Napoleon. More reviews: a sensitive treatment of complex themes courge, loyalty, love set at a pivotal time in history. Dominion Post NZ