Naeli and the Secret Song: new historical adventure from the winner of the Costa Children's Book Award

by Jasbinder Bilan

 
From the author of the Costa Award-winning Asha
& the Spirit Bird comes a stunning new historical
adventure …
Naeli loves her life in Hyderabad, India, yet she yearns to find
her English father, who left when she was little. When a mysterious
ticket arrives from England, Naeli abandons her familiar world
to track him down.


Armed only with her father’s name and cherished violin,
she embarks on a bold adventure through Victorian London and beyond
...



A stunning new novel by bestselling author Jasbinder
Bilan; author of Asha & the Spirit Bird, Tamarind
& the Star of Ishta and Aarti &
the Blue Gods
A gothic historical tale of family, music and mystery

Jasbinder is the winner of the Costa Book Award, The
Indie Book Award and the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition,
and has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's
Book Prize

 


PRAISE FOR JASBINDER


'This book is such a light-filled, huge-hearted delight of
an adventure.' KATHERINE RUNDELL


'Satisfyingly classic in feel' GUARDIAN



'A heartfelt and mystical children’s adventure story' TELEGRAPH



'Atmospheric, dreamy, charged with wonder and menace, loss,
sorrow and delight' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 5, 2025

About the author

According to family stories, Jasbinder was born in a stable in the foothills of the Himalayas. Until she was a year and a half, she lived on a farm inhabited by a grumpy camel and a monkey called Oma.

Jasbinder graduated from Bath Spa University where the seeds of her story were nurtured, but it was the incredible bond with her grandmother which was the inspiration for Asha & the Spirit Bird.

She lives with her husband, two teenage boys and dog Enzo in a man pad and splits her time between teaching and writing.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the death of her mother, Naeli is left in Hyderabad with her ayah having not seen her English father since he left many years ago. When a ticket arrives from England, Naeli decides to set sail in an attempt to track down the whereabouts of her father, not knowing anything about him other than his name. Taking her cherished violin with her, it is not long before she arrives in Victorian London where life is about to change forever.

Although this is a book for younger people, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed Naeli’s adventure and was captivated by her journey of discovery. The author takes us from the colourful Hyderabad, across the ocean to the unfamiliar Victorian London where everything isn’t quite what Naeli imagined.

I found the pace of the story perfect, the plot moving on quickly as we join Naeli on her quest to find her father, encountering some rather unsavoury characters along the way.

This is a great read, perfect for younger fans of historical mysteries.

[I Read, Therefore I Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jasbinder Bilan’s standalone historical adventure for readers aged 9+ is a mixed affair. I liked the fact that this is a story about bi-racial children with Indian and English heritage as it’s not something that gets covered a lot. Naeli is a plucky and determined character with a real gift for music and I liked her friendship with the confident Jack but the plot is episodic and for me missed emotional details that would have helped flesh it out.

[Morag Forbes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This middle grade historical adventure takes us along with Naeli from the vibrant Hyderabad to the streets of London. This is a story of music, friendship, family and the power we all have, no matter who we are, to make a change. It is a story with a lot of twists and turns. However although the exact details were a surprise the overall plot felt really very predictable to me.

[Cute Rabbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually a really good book.I really enjoyed this read .I like how this author doesn’t drag the story on and just gets to the point which is very good.The writing style is also very beautiful and it was a really nice thing to get away from reading YA books for a while.
This book is about a girl called Naeli and her mum dies ,after a year she gets a letter inviting her to come to london but it’s anomalous.Thinking it’s her father Naeli goes on a journey to find him.On the way she makes friends with a boy called Jack who helps her.
This was a fun read and I recommend it to anyone who likes children’s fiction and just any child who likes reading.😁