Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of the Second World War.
A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in London . . .
Winner of the Guardian children's fiction prize.
"This not-to-be-missed novel explores a wide range of problems amid an amazing welter of emotions. This is particularly important and striking because the emotions relate to a boy and a man." Books For Keeps
"The brilliant story of an evacuee with the worst mother in the whole of children's literature." Sunday Telegraph
"A brilliant story of how love defeats fear." The Independent
Author interviews
