This is a young adult book by Lucy Adlington, the author of The Red Ribbon, but it's a very readable book and you soon forget that it is a young adult read. Its 1946 and the Red Cross has taken a lot of refugees from the concentration camps in Austria and bought them over to England. One of these refugees is a fifteen year old Jewish girl called Brigitta, her only possessions are a very old small suitcase with a single grey glove inside and a small knife (which she keeps hidden in her pocket). She has been told by her her mother to go to Summerland Hall and after an adventurous journey she reaches it, but it is not as she thought it would be. It had been used during the war by the RAF and Lady Summer is none too happy with the state her home has been left in. Her son Joe is home after suffering greatly and keeps himself hidden away, almost as if he is a ghost, just like the ghosts of all the dead airmen who hang around every corner as if they are waiting for their next mission.
Each chapter of the book has a heading of a different type of food which relates to that chapter, from Christmas pudding at Christmas time to porridge with jam, as that had a connection with her first encounter with the village policeman, I think this gives it a nice touch and a reminder that ordinary food was precious at that time. Brigitta describes things around the Hall and the village in great detail, which are sometimes funny when she doesn't understand the description and nicknames of English customs and sometimes sad when she remembers back to how things were with her mother whom she misses so much. As the story progresses the storyline begins to take on a new role and one that will make you maybe want to start reading this book all over again in case you have missed something. A very interesting book that will appeal to lots of people whether you are twelve years old or eighty years young. A five star read.
Each chapter of the book has a heading of a different type of food which relates to that chapter, from Christmas pudding at Christmas time to porridge with jam, as that had a connection with her first encounter with the village policeman, I think this gives it a nice touch and a reminder that ordinary food was precious at that time. Brigitta describes things around the Hall and the village in great detail, which are sometimes funny when she doesn't understand the description and nicknames of English customs and sometimes sad when she remembers back to how things were with her mother whom she misses so much. As the story progresses the storyline begins to take on a new role and one that will make you maybe want to start reading this book all over again in case you have missed something. A very interesting book that will appeal to lots of people whether you are twelve years old or eighty years young. A five star read.