Wendover Bookshop - Carrie's War, Nina Bawden

Carrie's War "Carrie had often dreamed about coming back. And in Carrie's dream she was always running, running away from the house, and away from the fingers that reached out for her, plucking at her hair and skirt as she ran..."

Bombs were falling on London. Carrie and Nick were wartime evacuees billeted in Wales on old Mr Evans, who was a bit of an ogre, and his timid mouse of a sister. Their friend Albert was luckier, living in Druid's Bottom with Hepzibah Green and the strange Mister Johnny,9 and Carrie and Nick were happy to visit him there, until Carrie did a terrible thing, the worst thing she ever did in her life...

For thirty years Carrie did not speak of Druid's Bottom, and it is left to Carrie's own children to unravel the mystery of that time and its legacy of fear and silence. Gradually the story unfolds.. of the strange inhabitants of Druid's Bottom and of the awesome power of an ancient curse.

"Nick was frightened of ogres and spiders and crabs and cold water and the dentist and dark nights, but he wasn't often frightened of people. And he wasn't afraid of Mr Evans, even after that first dreadful night, because Mr Evans had false teeth that clicked when he talked."

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if you like this book we recommend:

The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier

Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian

The Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

I Am David by Anne Holm.

Other books by Nina Bawden that we recommend include A Handful of Thieves, The Peppermint Pig.