Jessamy Harrison is eight years old Sensitive and whimsical, she is possessed of an extraordinary and powerful imagination As the child of an English father and a Nigerian mother, Jess can't shake the feeling of being alone wherever she goes When she is taken to her mother's family compound in Nigeria, she encounters Titiola, a ragged little girl her own age, whom Jess calls TillyTilly It seems that Jess has found another outsider who will understand her But as Tilly shows Jess just how easy it is to hurt those around her, Jess begins to realise that she doesn't know who TillyTilly is at all