The Last Boy
Dedicated to the real George Brewster, this story is based on the last child sweep who died by getting stuck in a chimney. The ‘real Brewster’ died aged 12, in 1875, galvanising the Earl of Shaftesbury to pass the Chimney Sweeps Act which outlawed the use of climbing boys. The Brewster of our story is orphaned then sold, aged six, to a brutal Master Sweep who takes him out chimney sweeping at night. Brewster’s special power is the power of numbers, and Birr Castle’s chimneys have a special place in his heart, for it is a scientific centre of learning.
By the time Brewster is twelve, his legs are deformed and his skin blistered and embedded with soot, but he can calculate the movement of stars and comets, especially one comet which appears every 33 years. It brings showers of shooting stars so thick, people think it is the end of the world. Lady Rosse is also watching the stars through the castle’s great telescope, Leviathan. With the help of Lady Rosse’s deaf, elusive daughter, Alice, who he meets secretly in the Castle Library, he reads scientific books and writes sooty comet predictions on empty pages.
The night on which Brewster has predicted the beginning of the return of his comet, he is stuck in a castle chimney. But he believes he can fly and is determined to wish on every shooting star his comet brings: to be the last chimney boy. When Lady Rosse discovers Brewster’s calculations, he agrees to help her achieve her own scientific ambition. In return, she must help him make his wish come true. Brewster’s grim world of child labour shows how freedom can come through our own power. This is a story of magic, friendship and hope, which is beautifully written and highly recommended.
