V for victory

'At once funny and moving: the brisk kindness of the wardens will bring a lump to your throat.

I could not have loved it more' Susie SteinerIt's late 1944.

Hitler's rockets are slamming down on London with vicious regularity and it's the coldest winter in living memory.

Allied victory is on its way, but it's bloody well dragging its feet. In a large house next to Hampstead Heath, Vee Sedge is just about scraping by, with a herd of lodgers to feed, and her young charge Noel ( almost fifteen ) to clothe and educate.

When she witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court, the repercussions are both unexpectedly marvellous and potentially disastrous - disastrous because Vee is not actually the person she's pretending to be, and neither is Noel. The end of the war won't just mean peace, but discovery... With caustic wit and artful storytelling, Lissa Evans elegantly summons a time when the world could finally hope to emerge from the chaos of war.

As sharply comic as Old Baggage and emotionally poignant as Crooked Heart, V For Victory once again shows Lissa Evans to be one of our most brilliant and subtle writers. __________________________________Lissa Evans' writing is:Wise and witty - Sarah Hughes, ObserverOriginal and so timely. And it made me weep at the end. - JoJo MoyesBittersweet and comic. - GuardianInspiring, moving, warm and wry...wonderful! - Marian KeyesBeautifully written. -Sunday MirrorThoughtful, funny...invigoratingly fresh. - Sunday Times