From Goodreads
When Noel Bostock –
aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he
ends up living in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thirty-six and drowning in
debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous
about how she gets it.
Noel's mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Brought up to share her disdain for authority and eclectic approach to education, he has little in common with other children and even less with Vee, who hurtles impulsively from one self-made crisis to the next. The war's thrown up new opportunities for making money but what Vee needs (and what she's never had) is a cool head and the ability to make a plan.
On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team.
Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life.
But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all…
Noel's mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Brought up to share her disdain for authority and eclectic approach to education, he has little in common with other children and even less with Vee, who hurtles impulsively from one self-made crisis to the next. The war's thrown up new opportunities for making money but what Vee needs (and what she's never had) is a cool head and the ability to make a plan.
On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team.
Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life.
But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all…
My thoughts
I enjoyed this story set around WWII. I'd heard so many good things about it, that I had to reserve it from my local Library as curiousity got the better of me.
Noel Bostock is a young 10 year old orphan being looked after by his godmother, following her death he spends a very short period of time with other family members before being evacuated to St Albans. Somewhat a loner, he finds himself one of the last few children to be placed. Meet Vera Sedge a mother of dubious nature. She likes a good scam or two and it's not too long before young Noel becomes embroiled in her life. Noel has certain principles to uphold though and through his want to maintain these, he finds that he can be as canny as Vera if not more so!!
As they lurch from one escapade to another you become more engaged by the pair of them. I felt that Vera did care for Noel and was motherly towards him in her own way.
This is the first story that I have read by this Author. She has a way of making the reader feel as if they are actually there in war torn Britain during the Blitz. It's not an overly long story and I found it to be a slow burner on the whole, but it's definitely a very engaging one. I look foward to reading other stories by this Author in due course.
A very well deserved 8/10 from me.
Noel Bostock is a young 10 year old orphan being looked after by his godmother, following her death he spends a very short period of time with other family members before being evacuated to St Albans. Somewhat a loner, he finds himself one of the last few children to be placed. Meet Vera Sedge a mother of dubious nature. She likes a good scam or two and it's not too long before young Noel becomes embroiled in her life. Noel has certain principles to uphold though and through his want to maintain these, he finds that he can be as canny as Vera if not more so!!
As they lurch from one escapade to another you become more engaged by the pair of them. I felt that Vera did care for Noel and was motherly towards him in her own way.
This is the first story that I have read by this Author. She has a way of making the reader feel as if they are actually there in war torn Britain during the Blitz. It's not an overly long story and I found it to be a slow burner on the whole, but it's definitely a very engaging one. I look foward to reading other stories by this Author in due course.
A very well deserved 8/10 from me.
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