Elijah’s Chariot

All of Londinium society is in excitement over the arrival of the Nipponese ambassador Lady Min, but Eva dreads her mother’s appearance, which signals the end of her halycon days in Ængland. For Eva, life would ever be the scent of curried spices in the East End, playing cricket in the park, and getting into trouble with her best friend Raphael, and she fears the changes her mother’s presence in Londinium will bring.

It is an age of global expansion, but the fruits of imperium are beginning to sour. Fights erupt on the streets of Londinium as the ethnic British citizens protest their treatment at the hands of the privileged white Ænglish. Raphael, being of Hindustani descent, feels the injustice most keenly and longs for progress and reform. When he and Eva are caught in the midst of a race riot, they are rescued by their schoolmate Alasdair, a lonely boy with a curious and marvelous gift: the ability to perform miracles. The three become friends, but soon find their relationships with each other strained by the political, racial, and ideological battles raging around them.

The British government seeks the aid of its Nipponese allies in subduing the dissenting population, but find their greatest weapon in Alasdair and his strange powers. Raphael joins a group of freedom fighters headed by the enchanting Lady Min, but Eva suspects her mother has motives of her own. As the conflict escalates, the line between good and bad, right and wrong becomes blurred as the children begin to wonder if the cost of winning is worth the loss of innocent lives–or the loss of their friendships.