Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Crooked Heart

Lissa Evans

When Noel is evacuated from London to St Albans he thinks the world is at an end. His new carer Vera is not a typical mother figure and he soon becomes involved in door-to-door underhand dealings. The question is, who is supporting who?

What a great book – the characters are so off the wall you just have to get to know them better.

Extract
"'Scuse all," said the man with the cold, sneezing again. "Wish I'd stayed in bed."
"Wish you had too," said someone opposite. "It's bloody raining in here. I need a bloody umbrella."
"I can't help it."...
"I don't like swearing," ... "it's the sign of a small vocabulary."
"So do you want me to come up with another word for bloody while he's drenching me three times a minute?"
"Sanguineous," said Noel...
Anyone fancy a song?"...
"No."...
Noel felt like...flinging his head back and wailing because nothing had gone right since he'd come back to London and if he were to update his careful list, it would be a mass of crossings out.
Parallels
  • Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
  • Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
  • Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans