I had to read this book very slowly, not because I wasn't enjoying it but quite the opposite, because I couldn't bear to reach the end. I have loved all Lissa Evans' previous books and this is every bit as beautifully written. Her use of language, characterisation, storylines are all truly wonderful and I was completely transported to the draughty hotchpotch of country house that is Dimperley and firmly ensconced in the post-war happenings of its inhabitants and I didn't want to leave. A glorious read.

4.5* Small Bomb at Dimperley is a warm hug of a read infused with superb characters and sharp dialogue. I absolutely loved it.

Valentine Vere-Thissett was the son not meant to manage the family pile; Dimperley a house from the 1500s which has been extended with new wings in every time and style in the passing centuries. When Valentine is demobbed after the war, having almost bored himself to death as a corporal, rather than the officer class which would have been the norm for his social class, he goes home to a family in chaos. His mother still assumes herself wealthy and is in high demand to open local village fetes. His sister-in-law has a secret. His uncle is on the umpteenth volume of the family history he is writing and his nieces are just returned from the US with a modern outlook that doesn’t fit with the twee family name. Can Valentine bring the family together and are his key allies those who can see the world a little more objectively.

Warm, funny and with an absolutely fantastic cast of characters, Dimperley is a triumph. I loved Lissa Evan’s trilogy starting with Crooked Heart and this book delivers in all the same ways. This isn’t wham-bam humour, it’s a smart underlying tickle that gets under your skin amidst a tight plot. The skill is not just that each character is so well imagined, but that their interactions sparkle off the page. I hope that the author goes back to these characters again, as they will certainly be staying with me.

Thanks to Transworld and Netgalley for an ARC.

What a joy It is to read a new book by Lissa Evans, one of our most talented authors. Her characters always leap off the pages, fully human, and Small Bomb at Dimperley is another gem.

The story is set at the end of World War II. Valentine is returning to Dimperley Manor, minus some fingers on his right hand, to take his place as Baronet following the death of one elder brother and brain damage of another. He’s always been in the shadow of his eldest brother, Felix, in both his own mind and that of his mother, and must now adapt to his new position. The house has been used as a maternity home through the war, there is no money for repairs, and society is changing around him in the aftermath of war.

The country house is filled with a host of memorable characters – his fierce mother Irene, his older brother Cedric, his aged uncle Alaric (trying to write the family history and battling his own demons), his widowed sister in law (recently reunited with her two daughters following their return from safety in from the US), and Zena and her 3 year old daughter Allison, who remain in the house after first arriving during its time as a maternity home.

All of them have real stories behind them and their own concerns and struggles and it’s all balanced with the author’s usual wit and humour. It can be difficult to write children without them becoming either precocious or saccharine, but Allison is a wonderful character, full of life and absolutely believable. Cedric, also, is not a sidelined disabled person but beautifully portrayed and it’s so nice to see him as a much loved member of the family rather than a problem to be solved or handled.

I couldn’t have loved this book more. I’ve enjoyed everything Lissa Evans has written in the past and this is yet another treasure that I know I will be returning to often.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

‘Small Bomb at Dimperley’ is wonderful entertainment and great fun whilst also touching on societal prejudices prevalent at the end of the Second World War. When Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett returns home, minus several fingertips, to take on the mantle of his ancestral home, Dimperley, alongside its crippling debts, he little thinks that he may have to sacrifice his personal happiness to save the estate. His formidable mother has other ideas!
When Valentine meets Zena Baxter and her three year old daughter, Allison, who are waiting for ‘their man of the house’ to return from war, he begins to appreciate just how much his family relies on her common sense, good humour and positive approach to everything. Zena has experienced few creature comforts in life and she is not about to allow the family’s rather feeble approach to saving Dimperley destroy her feelings of security. However, there are some problems that no amount of competency can solve!
Another wonderfully told story from Lissa Evans, this time focusing on the aftermath of war. Not only does she create a very appealing collection of characters; her plausible narrative also shows that new beginnings are possible, even after the darkest days.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers Doubleday UK for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Valentine Vere-Thissett, aged 23, is on his way home to Dimperley, a crumbling big house, at the end of WW2. His older brother has died, meaning thar Valentine is now Sir Valentine.

Zena Baxter lives there with her young daughter, and loves the house.

This is a lovely, light hearted read, to be recommended.

A splendidly entertaining book. As the country recovers from World War 2, we are treated to the story of the Vere-Thysett family, struggling to maintain a crumbling mansion and adapt to the aftermath of war. Every character is beautifully presented. My favourites were Valentine, the returning soldier, injured (but not in battle),now the reluctant baronet after the death of his older brother, and expected to restore the family fortunes by marrying money; Uncle Alaric, spending his days researching the history of Dimperley Manor and the family; Zena, Alaric's assistant and her feisty small daughter Allison; and Kitty and Priss, Valentine's nieces, back from the USA where they were sent for the duration of the war. But all the minor characters are just as vivid, with detailed back stories, conveyed to the reader in a way that does not obstruct the flow of the plot or require stilted explanatory conversations.
Apart from the excellent writing and credible plot, what makes this book shine is the humour. There are many amusing incidents and the dialogue is delightful. A group of people, each with their own problems, struggling to adapt to new situations after a war could make for quite a dark story but the way in which they all cope with their various challenges is quite uplifting. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

I have read Old Baggage and V for Victory, courtesy of NetGalley, which involve the same characters. I liked both of them and was pleased to be offered the chance to read Lissa Evan's latest book. I liked this one even more. It has the same whimsical Britishness, set after WWII in a minor stately home. I did get a bit confused by all the characters and who was related to whom at first. The hero of the book is Zena Baxter, who came to the house as a pregnant woman, to escape London. She stays on after, whilst waiting for her husband to be demobbed, in order to assist Aleric, a family member who is writing a history of the place. Then she comes up with the idea to open the house up to the public in order to pay for the upkeep, as the family have become impoverished, especially as the new Labour government is now in power, introducing huge death duties. Valentine, the heir, returns injured from the war and falls in with his mother's plan to find a rich bride to help with costs. The story barrels along delightfully, is mildly mocking of the landed gentry, and has some lovely minor characters, particularly Allison, Zena's confident daughter, and Kitty and Priss, Valentine's nieces, who have returned from America with some advanced and shocking ideas. This is a book I will re-read, which is rare for me.

I wondered if Small Bomb at Dimperley might follow the characters I’d become so fond of in V for Victory and Old Baggage but Lissa Evans presents us with a completely new cast, equally endearing and amusing. Set in 1945, her new novel’s backdrop is Dimperley Manor, home to the Vere-Thissett family, ennobled in the fifteenth century after shifting a fallen tree out of the monarch's way.
Valentine returns to the family’s Buckinghamshire seat after he’s demobbed and finds himself swiftly elevated to the baronetcy when his eldest brother is declared dead. Dimperely is in a sad state after its requisition as a maternity home during the war. Zena Baxter is still in residence with her three-year-old, typing up the seemingly never-ending, soporific history of Dimperley which is Valentine’s uncle’s life’s work. There’s no money for the patching up the house desperately needs but while Dowager Lady Iris’ solution is a wealthy match for Valentine, Zena hits on another plan.
Evans takes some entertaining swipes at the aristocracy, struggling with the ‘servant problem’ and unable to do things for themselves while the rest of the country happily throws deference to the winds, voting in a Labour government. Assumptions of superiority are niftily diverted with characterisation and plot developments that lead us to a particularly pleasing ending. I loved this one: an uncomplicated, very British delight.