When The War Came Home

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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. 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.

She goes to rush past Huw, her whole body stiff again, but he reaches out and touches her arm. He tilts his head to show he wants her to come close to him and whispers, ‘Sorry.’When the War Came Home might be set after World War 1 - and highlight the PTSD and grief experienced by so many soldiers - but it also features a battle against something many young readers today will have more direct experience: poverty, hunger & social inequity. Parr masterfully weaves these two very different - and quite harrowing - types of struggles together in a way that's accessible to younger readers without trivializing either issue. In the final chapter Akin discusses the refugee and deportee question together. He draws attention to the great number of Muslim refugees who fled the eastern Anatolia region from Russian advances. He also shows how they were treated differently than the Armenian population. While the state struggled to manage the influx of several hundred thousand Muslim refugees, it sought to provide them with food, shelter, and transportation. In contrast, the Armenian population was uprooted permanently in a bloody deportation campaign, with no hope for return. 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." The winners of the Diverse Book Awards 2023 have been announced, with one winner from each of the four categories announced: Picture book, Children... After reading Lesley’s first novel The Valley of Lost Secrets this was a highly anticipated book for me and I desperately fought the urge to read the early chapters released on Netgalley – didn’t want to spoil it for myself! Honestly, both books feel like and deserve to be future classics. Highly immersive historical novels and incredibly heart-warming they also incorporate a touch of cleverly written mystery.

It is also a multi-layered story, as we see through the eyes of the soldiers in the convalescent home, the effect the First World War had on so many, when they returned home. We don’t often see this period of history explored in depth within this age range – more often it is World War Two – and it is explored really well with care and sensitivity. In addition to all the above, When the War Came Home, also gives us a very realistic insight into what life was like during the 1920s in Welsh villages in South Wales. There is much to discuss in terms of family life, school, the effect of poverty and general day-to-day living.There’s so much more I’m bursting to say but I wouldn’t want to risk spoiling others’ enjoyment of this glorious book. Thank you Lesley for another amazing story that I will cherish and will stay with me for years to come. I really enjoyed solving another anagram mystery too. It’s the twenties. The First World War has ended but as we see throughout the story, it hasn’t gone away and the after-effects live on in the hearts and minds of the people. Twelve year old Natty is forced to moved to a new village after her fiesty and fearless mother Ffion ruffles feathers at the factory and looses her job. Yiğit Akın's fascinating book is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of World War I, the late Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey and is certain to occupy an important place in these fields for many years to come." 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.’

When The War Came Home by Lesley Parr is a charming historical YA novel set after World War I. It is a story that will delight and entertain you whatever your age. 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." 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. 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. - GuardianThe Primary School Library Alliance is calling on the government to match-fund the private investment it has brought into helping primary schools c... 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.