From an early age, James Poneke has had to play a role to survive. But what of the real James?

While exhibited as a curiosity, a Maori boy turns his gaze on Victorian London.

‘The hour is late. The candle is low. Tomorrow I will see whether it is my friends or a ship homewards I meet. But I must finish my story for you first. My future, my descendant, my mokopuna. Listen.’

So begins the tale of James Poneke: orphaned son of a chief; ardent student of English; wide-eyed survivor. All the world’s a stage, especially when you’re a living exhibit.

But anything can happen to a young New Zealander on the savage streets of Victorian London. When James meets the man with laughing dark eyes and the woman who dresses as a man, he begins to discover who people really are beneath their many guises.

Although London is everything James most desires, this new world is more dark and dazzling than he could have imagined.