When The War Came Home

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I read this book on Anzac Day after watching the film Dunkirk and so I still had the terror those young men faced in my mind. But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed. Just as Lesley Parr's first book, 'The Valley of Lost Secrets', showed us Wales through the eyes of a WW2 evacuee, her second book is also a warm evocation of that country, with fascinating glimpses of the language and culture. Close friendships were formed in war. Those friendships kept each other going but “no words are big enough. Because what do you say when someone tells you their best friend is gone?” Loss cuts deeply. Not everyone who went to war came home – some left physical bodies behind, others remained on the battlefield in their minds. When the War Came Home is a story so full of hope, determination, love, family and friendship. It utterly captivated me and had me reading into the wee small hours as I couldn’t bear to tear myself away from the idyllic Welsh countryside and the wonderfully warm, beautifully drawn cast of characters and their spirit and resilience.

Natty was so hurt by his pain that she was so eager and determined to make him feel better, to make him fell less of the ache that was from his haunting memories. For memories are something we cannot escape no matter how hard we try; but, for Johnny, another young soldier that Natty befriends, it's all he could ever hope again. 😟😟 With echoes of Carrie's War and Goodnight Mister Tom, Parr brings her own fresh voice to what already feels like a wartime classic. This story is quietly brutal and brilliantly heartfelt. I absolutely ADORED it. - Emma Carroll, author of Letters from the Lighthouse We also face a quite volatile relationship at times between Natty and her cousin Nerys as they share a room and a class which initially seems too much especially as Natty had decided beforehand that they wouldn’t get on. Although when they come together they do actually join forces well and this is written well and is very very believable. For what could have been a more emotionally charged topic, Lesley Parr brought such a refreshing sincere look to how Natty's class demanded changes to their lunch system, that you couldn't help but cheer alongside them. Led by her spirited cousin, Nerys, FULL TUMS = CORRECT SUMS is the slogan adopted by her classmates as they begin their strike. I loved the determination and loyalty shown by the students championed - even though, it is a serious matter, there was such a lightness to their methods, that made it such an enjoyable read. 😊 When I reviewed Lesley Parr’s first book, The Valley of Lost Secrets, last year, I said that it was one of the best debut novels I had been privileged to read in a long time, and this new book is even better. The characters are so beautifully drawn; Natty loves her mother but is infuriated by the way her behaviour affects their lives. It is only when Natty becomes involved in her own battle, the fight for free meals at her new school, that she begins to realise how like her mother she really is. I also loved Nerys; a clever chatterbox , she is intensely loyal to her friend Owen and cannot bear the injustices he suffers at the hands of their truly awful teacher "Mad Dog Manford". Although Natty finds her irritating at first, she and Nerys become a real team, not only in the campaign for school meals, but also in solving the mystery of Johnny’s real identity.

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Sometimes it’s hard to put into words just how good a book is to do it justice and The Valley of Lost Secrets is one of those books. Reminiscent of Goodnight Mister Tom and Carrie’s War, it deserves to be a future classic.

When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn’t be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place. The Primary School Library Alliance is calling on the government to match-fund the private investment it has brought into helping primary schools c...

Curriculum

When the War Came Home' is a new middle-grade historical adventure which I'm sure will become a classic. I read the first part via NetGalley and pounced on it as soon as it was published, finishing it in one delighted sitting. The next time you complain about the lunch served at the cafeteria, think that there was a time and place where children had to fight for hot lunches to be served to them during school. The next time you question what was inside the mystery meat you had for lunch, remember there were young soldiers during WWI who were so cold and starving, that it wasn't the feeling of hunger that was eating away at their hearts, but the sound of 'the tap-tap-tapping of hammers on wood' that was the echo of the preparation for the 'coffins for those of us who’d need them.’ The First World War has ended, but it hasn't gone away. When Natty has to move to a new village, she meets two young soldiers who are still battling the effects of war. Huw can't forget the terrible things he's seen, but Johnny doesn't even remember who he is. When the War Came Home reveals the catastrophic impact of this global conflict on ordinary Ottomans. Drawing on a wide range of sources—from petitions, diaries, and newspapers to folk songs and religious texts—Yiğit Akın examines how Ottoman men and women experienced war on the home front as government authorities intervened ever more ruthlessly in their lives. The horrors of war brought home, paired with the empire's growing demands on its people, fundamentally reshaped interactions between Ottoman civilians, the military, and the state writ broadly. Ultimately, Akın argues that even as the empire lost the war on the battlefield, it was the destructiveness of the Ottoman state's wartime policies on the home front that led to the empire's disintegration. Natty meets soldiers Johnny and Charles at the bowling pavilion where they are brought for daily recreation time from Talbot House; a convalescene home for injured servicemen. Young soldier Johnny is suffering from amnesia, brough on by the effects of the war and he can’t remember any details of his life before. His identity bracelet is damaged so The Ministry of Defence have been unable to trace his loved ones.

When they are forced out of their home, young Natty has to pay the price for her mother's revolutionary spirit.She just can't understand why her mother has to get involved in problems not her own -- but in their new village, she is challenged to stand up against injustice herself. Set shortly after the First World War, this historical mystery is a compelling read. Natty is cross when Mam loses her job for speaking out against unfair working conditions, as without an income, they cannot pay their rent so are forced to move. They go to stay with Aunty Mary and Uncle Dewi, who run a small farm in the Welsh countryside, but Natty finds it challenging to share a room with her cousin Nerys, who has bags of enthusiasm and never stops talking. Set in Wales in the period immediately following WW1, Lesley Parr's new story skilfully weaves together two strands: the struggle for social justice and the plight of returning soldiers. Lesley’s Debut novel, The Valley of Lost Secrets is a gripping World War Two drama set in the South Wales valleys. The setting in When the War Came Home is again a small Welsh village in the South Wales valleys but this time set shortly after the First World War. Told in first person through the central character, Natty, makes this a really compelling read. It opens when Natty is not happy when her mam loses her job after speaking out about unfair working conditions, where she worked. With no income they have to leave their home and move to a new area to stay with Natty’s Aunty Mary and Uncle Dewi, who run a small farm in the Welsh countryside. Even worse for Natty, she has to share a room with her very chatty cousin Nerys and missing her Friday night chippy tea in the flat they used to live in above the ironmongers. She has to adjust to a new school where the teacher uses the cane and going home to the farm for lunch as there are no free school meals at this school. I loved the dynamics of this book very much so and it begins with Natty and her Mam and her Mam unfortunately loses her job through no real fault of her own. It came across that this could be a thing that was seen coming as plans were already in place for them to go and live with the Father’s sister in Wales.As Natty tries to keep a secret and unravel a mystery, she finds her own way to fight for what she believes in - and learns that some things should never be forgotten ... This mesmerising historical mystery includes an interactive clue so readers can unravel the mystery alongside the characters. About This Edition ISBN: Lesley has written in two fabulous characters who are both technically suffering from what we would call now PTSD and it is written in such a way that it is easily understood for the audience it is intended and in a way it doesn’t frighten you off. This portrayal has been done so well and shows different aspects of it in the two characters. If you haven’t already read The Valley of Lost Secrets, you absolutely must! I realised I didn’t write a post for this – I often find the books I enjoy the most the most difficult to write a review for. After Natalie's mother, the Champion of the Underdog, stirs up trouble at her job at their hometown, she and her mother go to live with her cousins in Ynysfach. Frustrated and upset about leaving her stable life behind, Natty isn't in the mood of being agreeable. But, as she settles into her new life and meeting her cousins, she slowly discovers that when the time is right, it doesn't hurt to reach out to help others and lend a helping hand, especially when the time calls for it. Yiğit Akın's treatment of the Ottoman homefront represents a critical breakthrough in the study of the First World War. Drawing upon highly original and interesting archival sources, as well as previously untapped published material, Akin vividly depicts the many hardships faced by Ottoman civilians during the course of the conflict. The book's artful prose makes it an engaging read for both students and scholars of the war, adding to its critical value for readers well beyond the field of modern Middle Eastern history."

There is a lot to recommend this book for upper KS2 and lower KS3 readers. The characters have depth, with both strengths and flaws, which makes for very realistic storytelling. We see this in the relationship between Natty and her mam. Natty is frustrated by the way her mam stands up for workers’ rights and puts their livelihood in jeopardy and it isn’t until the free school meal battle that Natty starts to understand the importance of standing up for what you believe in and the strength of working together as a community and group to bring about change. This is a powerful, well-written theme throughout the story, which opens up the opportunity to discuss a range of topics, such as the education system, workers’ rights, unions and the suffrage movement. Atmospheric, direct and gripping, with a superbly assured narrative voice, this book is woven through with powerful themes: grief, belonging and making peace with the past. - Guardian Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... cw: some references to deaths at Passchendale, not graphic descriptions, but does include a haunting passage about soldiers listening to coffins being built, physical abuse of children by adults at school, child poverty and a scene of a boy eating from the trash When the War Came Home is an authoritative social history among the many recent works on the Ottoman experience of World War I. Based on an imaginative array of sources, Yiğit Akın portrays meticulously and eloquently the upended lives of civilians and soldiers in the morass of the Middle East's fateful war."The years following World War I were those of change in Britain. We hear about the suffragettes and also lawful strikes as ways to bring about change. Natty is absolutely raging and she is furious with her Mam she has to leave everything she knows behind and she is quite awful to her Mam. Although in these times I think I would have been the same. Natty is such an incredible character. Feeling like a lost soul herself, she instantly recognises the look behind Johnny’s eyes and from the moment she hears his story, she is determined to help him remember. Fearless and direct yet sensitive and caring, she has the ability to gain Johnny’s trust and he begins to open up to her. With her help, odd flashes and fragment of memories seem to appear but will it be enough?