Picture The Clan of the Cave Bear with Zulus in the place of Neanderthals. A white girl is washed ashore from a shipwreck and raised in a Zulu village, well aware that she is British but seemingly in no hurry to return her own culture. This is set in 1878 when the raiding Zulus and colonising British are about to clash. As in the earlier book, Elizabeth knows that an aspiring clan leader hates her and if he comes to power she would do well to leave.

DAUGHTER OF THE SKY is how Elizabeth is sometimes called, for her red hair is like a bird. She learns that the British in Natal have demanded the Zulu king must disband his army and military rule, and be overseen by a British appointment. As the whole kingdom is run by military means this is not an option, and war seems inevitable. Lindan, a warrior who rescued Elizabeth, must pick up his spear. The clan chief says that if the girl returns to her own people now, the Zulu may suffer retribution for keeping her, and asks her to spy instead. She decides to agree.

"An empire is a very big thing to hate," says a scout wisely. Dressed as a teenaged boy and driving a cart with fresh meat, the brave girl inveigles her way into the underfed, overdressed redcoats' camp. Captain Burdell discovers her to be female but lets her pretend to be his batman to protect her. Names such as Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana will be familiar to those who watched Zulu and it must have been a marvelous, and frightening, spectacle to see the impi on the move. The athletic warriors believe that their wisemen will put muti, magic, on their shields but Elizabeth is knowledgeable about Martini-Henry rifles. The girl's position in two worlds is also reminiscent of the film Avatar where no matter what she does she is betraying her people.

Another quote - there is one before each chapter - which rings true is from a Zulu king, but could have been said by many invaded peoples over the world. "First comes the trader. Then the missionary. Then the red soldier." Michelle Diener has told the history well and with such appalling losses of life as occurred we are keen to see how Elizabeth can ever find happiness. DAUGHTER OF THE SKY is very readable and has a wonderful sense of place, and will interest many people keen to try an unusual historical romance.