Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Ten year old Noel has lived with his Godmother Mattie in London since he was four. He has no family of his own so when she passes away he is looked after by her cousin and his wife before being evacuated to St Albans. He is sent to live with Vera (Vee) Sedge who has a plan to make money because of the war. When she takes Noel along with her she soon realises that he is a lot cleverer than she first supposed. Vee's son Donald is also making a living for himself by taking advantage of his heart condition, but will these schemes of the Sedge's go unnoticed or get them into trouble?

I love novels set during the Second World War and Crooked Heart was no exception. Noel is much older than his years; Mattie always encouraged him to read a lot and she also taught him about her time as a suffragette.  I enjoyed reading about their relationship as well as seeing the one between him and Vee develop throughout the story. There were some funny lines that made me laugh out loud on occasion and, despite some of the things that happen, overall the story has a lovely feel to it. I would like a follow up to this set a few years down the line so I can meet the characters again and see what they're all up to.

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 

Thanks to Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for a copy in return for an honest review.

 

Publication date: 6th November 2014

 

You can read more about Crooked Heart on Goodreads here