A lovely book. I love books that are set during WW2 and I found myself really caring about the characters. Highly recommended.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

When Noel Bostock - aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he winds up in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thiry-six, drowning in debts. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it.
The war's thrown up all manner of new opportunities but what Vee needs 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. 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

Sometimes a book comes along that sounds so good in the blurb, has so many great reviews, that you just can't wait to get stuck in...and then the inevitable disappointment comes. How can I feel so differently to 90% of the reviewers? Why didn't I "get" this story?

This is one of those books...

A lot of people called this "charming" - my word for it is "dull"...
Some called it "poignant" - my word is "sickly-sweet"...

I just could not get involved in either the plot or the characters...and once that happens, the book is a bit of a write-off...

I can see why so many people enjoyed it - just isn't the book for me.


Paul
ARH

I had no idea what to expect and so I was very pleasantly surprised. I really liked noel. Yes, he was super precocious for a 10 year old but not in a twee way which would annoy me. He didn't automatically succeed in his schemes nor did he inexplicably care about things inappropriate for his age. Vee herself grows and somehow matured and i cheered for her happy ending.