Virago Modern Classic Book Club: Carrie’s War

Our Book of the Month for December is a childhood favourite: Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden.

‘A touching, utterly convincing book’ Jacqueline Wilson

‘I did a dreadful thing, the worst thing of my life, when I was twelve and a half years old, and nothing can change it’

It is wartime and Carrie and her little brother Nick have been evacuated from their London home to the Welsh hills. In an unfamiliar place, among strangers, the children feel alone and find little comfort with the family they are billeted with: Mr Evans, a bullying shopkeeper and Auntie Lou, his kind but timid sister.

When Carrie and Nick visit Albert, another evacuee, they are welcomed into Hepzibah Green’s warm kitchen. Hepzibah is rumoured to be a witch, but her cooking is delicious, her stories are enthralling and the children cannot keep away. With Albert, Hepzibah and Mister Johnny, they begin to settle into their new surroundings. But before long, their loyalties are tested: will they be persuaded to betray their new friends?

You can buy a copy of Carrie’s War in any good bookstore or online at Waterstones, The Hive and Amazon. 

Poignant and realistic . . . Carrie’s War captures the true reality of war for a child, and it doesn’t sentimentalise war’ Shirley Hughes, Guardian

One of the most loved and enduring wartime novels, Carrie’s War is a modern classic – we hope you enjoy reading it (again). We also have two more Bawden classics available in our Children’s Classic collection: The Peppermint Pig and Keeping Henry.

Join the #VMCBookClub conversation on Virago’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, we love to hear what you think. Plus, click here to take a peek at what we’ve read so far this year.