A story of wartime evacuees sent to a mining village in Wales, Parr’s debut is a beautifully told novel in the tradition of such classics as Carrie’s War and Goodnight Mister Tom. Jimmy is more resistant than his six-year-old little brother, Ronnie, to the welcome of the couple who take them in, longing for his London home. But the couple’s warmth, a disturbing discovery in the hills, conflict in the village and shifts in his relationships with other evacuees — notably his best friend, Duff, who turns on him, and a deprived, outcast girl who blossoms in the kindness of her new home — eventually give him a sense of belonging.
