Carrie's War

Rediscover the brilliance of Tortoise by Candlelight in the Mermaid Collection - classic books by popular pioneering female authors republished to delight new generations of readers. <BR><BR>Set just outside London in the early 1960s, this is a charming novel about a family living on the edge of society in their dilapidated Victorian house following the departure of their mother - and the upheaval when a new couple moves in next door . . .<BR><BR>With a foreword by Eve Chase<BR><BR>'Birds don't love. They only feed their babies because they gape . . .'<BR><BR>Fourteen-year-old Emmie Bean loves her family. But she worries about them too. Her mother is gone (no one will say where). Her father drinks instead of writing. Her younger brother Oliver has started stealing. And older sister Alice disappears on illicit dates.<BR><BR>Then there is their isolated house's menagerie of birds and animals, including Mo the squirrel and Murgatroyd the tortoise, all of which require Emmie's love and attention.<BR><BR>When the Sargents, a childless couple, move in next door, Emmie and the Beans find themselves drawn to this welcoming but aimless husband and wife.<BR><BR>Emmie fears the darkness and chaos surrounding them all. But perhaps love burns bright . . .<BR><BR>Praise for Nina Bawden:<BR><BR>'An exceptional picture of disorganised family life' Observer<BR><BR>'Bawden is noted too for the sharp sense of humour that edges her tales of middle-class manners and mores towards satire, particularly when it all goes wrong' Guardian

One of the most loved and enduring wartime novels, Carrie's War is a modern classic. <BR><BR>WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY MICHAEL MORPURGO AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALAN MARKS<BR><BR>'A touching, utterly convincing book' JACQUELINE WILSON <BR><BR>'Poignant and realistic . . . Carrie's War captures the true reality of war for a child, and it doesn't sentimentalise war' SHIRLEY HUGHES, GUARDIAN<BR><BR>'I did a dreadful thing, the worst thing of my life, when I was twelve and a half years old, and nothing can change it'<BR><BR>It is wartime and Carrie and her little brother Nick have been evacuated from their London home to the Welsh hills. In an unfamiliar place, among strangers, the children feel alone and find little comfort with the family they are billeted with: Mr Evans, a bullying shopkeeper and Auntie Lou, his kind but timid sister.<BR><BR> When Carrie and Nick visit Albert, another evacuee, they are welcomed into Hepzibah Green's warm kitchen. Hepzibah is rumoured to be a witch, but her cooking is delicious, her stories are enthralling and the children cannot keep away. With Albert, Hepzibah and Mister Johnny, they begin to settle into their new surroundings. But before long, their loyalties are tested: will they be persuaded to betray their new friends?<BR><BR>This collection of the best children's literature, curated by Virago, will be coveted by children and adults alike. These are timeless tales with beautiful covers, that will be treasured and shared across the generations. Some titles you will already know; some will be new to you, but there are stories for everyone to love, whatever your age. Our list includes Nina Bawden (Carrie's War, The Peppermint Pig), Rumer Godden (The Dark Horse, An Episode of Sparrows), Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden, The Gift Giving) E. Nesbit (The Psammead Trilogy, The Bastable Trilogy, The Railway Children), Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Little Princess, The Secret Garden) and Susan Coolidge (The What Katy Did Trilogy). Discover Virago Children's Classics.