Set in South Africa at the height of the apartheid regime, when the government started a policy of ethnic cleansing, forcibly removing people from their homes and moving them to so-called 'homelands'. Schoolchildren Naledi and Tiro are caught up in the protests and resistance as they and their grandmother are threatened with removal from their village. Protestors are arrested and beaten, but still people fight on. Freedom lies at the end of a long road.

Chain of Fire was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize for Children's Books,1989.

'It has the capacity to stir the emotions and remain in the memory long after other stories have been read and forgotten.'  The Observer

'This powerful indictment of the 'homeland' policy will help young readers to penetrate beyond political argument to human realities'  TES

'It has the capacity to stir the emotions and remain in the memory long after other stories have been read and forgotten.'  The Observer

'This powerful indictment of the 'homeland' policy will help young readers to penetrate beyond political argument to human realities'  TES