When the War Came Home

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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. 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. Finding an ally in someone he never expects, they set out together to uncover the secrets that lie with the skull. What they discover will change Jimmy – and the village – forever. Number 1: It's got some interesting topics for example the portrayal of PTSD and how it shows that it can happen, and it is serious it also shows what the characters have been through. 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 in the early 1920's, this wonderful novel explores the after effects of World War 1 on both the surviving soldiers and the families they return to. Natty lives in the small Welsh village of Libanwy with her mother, Ffion, who is a vocal supporter of women’s rights. When her outspokenness causes her to lose her job at the local factory, she and Natty are forced to move to the neighbouring village of Ynsyfach to stay with relatives. 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. I enjoyed this historical novel for tweens immensely! A mum standing up for women’s and worker’s rights is not a character trait I’ve seen before in a tween novel, and it also helps mould the plot and the growth of the main character. The excitable and always positive Nerys keeps everyone on their toes, with her brother Huw adding a sobering thread.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. 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. Meanwhile, his little sister, Nerys, scholarship girl, and Natty’s age, seems unlikely to be impeded by very much! She’s an activist like Natty’s mother. Therefore, she’s keen to initiate a school pupil strike against the inequity of school dinner provision between Libanwy and Ysynfach. How can anyone learn when they’re hungry?

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

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. 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." 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.’

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 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.I firmly believe that Lesley Parr is fast becoming a very important voice in the field of historical fiction for young people, and every classroom and school library should have copies of her brilliant novels on their shelves. My book of the year!

Akın's When the War Came Home is an important historical revision that fully portrays the imperial home front for the first time. Moreover, this unique interdisciplinary work reconsiders existing temporal, geographical, and methodological approaches to the study of World War I in the Middle East."––Melanie S. Tanielian, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 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.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." Natty designates a drawer in the bureau of her new room for her cousin indicating that she and Nerys's relationship is not at an end. This relationship is one of the things Lesley Parr does particularly well. There's a line early on about adults always assuming that children the same age will get along, but in fact the girls have their ups and downs of annoyance, jealousy and friendship-building that's one of the most realistic-feeling parts of the book. Cousin Nerys, a bright, self-confident, socially-challenged girl Natty's age, is inspired to begin a strike for the counsel to provide a midday meal like they did at Natty's former school. (Their headmaster hits children with rulers, a problem not solved here, but they do succeed in getting food for the children, some of whom are going hungry enough to make concentration difficult.)