When the War Came Home

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The novel is written in the first person from the point of view of twelve year old Natty. The reader gets inside her head as her thoughts become our thoughts. It is also a multi-layered story, as we see through the eyes of the soldiers in the convalescent home, the effect the First World War had on so many, when they returned home. We don’t often see this period of history explored in depth within this age range – more often it is World War Two – and it is explored really well with care and sensitivity. In addition to all the above, When the War Came Home, also gives us a very realistic insight into what life was like during the 1920s in Welsh villages in South Wales. There is much to discuss in terms of family life, school, the effect of poverty and general day-to-day living. 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. 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.

Natty’s fury at her mother’s activism diminishes slowly through the warm welcome of her cousins’ family. It seems they and the village of Ynysfach are keen to integrate the newcomers into their lives. However, it’s ‘Johnny’ at Talbot House, who provides most comfort and interest to Natty. It seems his experiences at the front in WWI have left him as an unknown, somebody being treated to remember who he is and where he comes from. Is there some way that Natty might help? Associate Professor of History & Nesuhi Ertegün Chair of Modern Turkish Studies, Georgetown University Yiğit Akın's book, When the War Came Home: The Ottomans' Great War and the Devastation of an Empire, is a well-researched and sophisticated study of the impact of the Great War on Ottoman politics, society, and culture....Akın's study of the Ottoman civilian experience of the Great War brings to life a rich trove of sources. The book's strong research base, its sophisticated and multidisciplinary analysis, and comparative approach make it a valuable addition to the lively field of Ottoman Great War studies and to the broader scholarship on the history of the Great 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.’ In this deeply-researched and engaging work Yiğit Akın takes a close look at the Ottoman home front during the First World War. Divided into six chapters, the book examines the political effects of the Balkan Wars, mobilisation in 1914 and the lives of conscripts, the war’s impact on the economy, especially on agricultural life and production, military requisitioning, the role of women and altered family structures, and, in the final chapter, the destruction of Anatolia’s Armenian population and the influx of Ottoman refugees from territories occupied by Russian forces. The study is based on sources drawn from the Ottoman Prime Ministry’s Archives, laws and regulations adopted by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress, minutes of the deliberations in the Chamber of Deputies (meclis-i mebusan) and the senate (meclis-i ayan), and a broad array of the growing list of diaries and memoirs recounting personal experiences of the First World War. In addition, and in a way no other recent study has done, When the War Came Home draws on folk songs and poems revealing the everyday hardships and tragedies faced by ordinary Ottomans in wartime.

Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child... Huw was just fourteen when he decided to lie about his age and sign up for a soldier’s uniform and an adventure, and the result is disastrous. Although I knew of this happening (in probably most wars) I haven’t come across a character so young who has lived through it, to show a reader the results. Yiğit Akın's fascinating book is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of World War I, the late Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey and is certain to occupy an important place in these fields for many years to come." But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed. Natty is such an incredible character. Feeling like a lost soul herself, she instantly recognises the look behind Johnny’s eyes and from the moment she hears his story, she is determined to help him remember. Fearless and direct yet sensitive and caring, she has the ability to gain Johnny’s trust and he begins to open up to her. With her help, odd flashes and fragment of memories seem to appear but will it be enough?

cw: some references to deaths at Passchendale, not graphic descriptions, but does include a haunting passage about soldiers listening to coffins being built, physical abuse of children by adults at school, child poverty and a scene of a boy eating from the trash Lesley’s Debut novel, The Valley of Lost Secrets is a gripping World War Two drama set in the South Wales valleys. The setting in When the War Came Home is again a small Welsh village in the South Wales valleys but this time set shortly after the First World War. Told in first person through the central character, Natty, makes this a really compelling read. It opens when Natty is not happy when her mam loses her job after speaking out about unfair working conditions, where she worked. With no income they have to leave their home and move to a new area to stay with Natty’s Aunty Mary and Uncle Dewi, who run a small farm in the Welsh countryside. Even worse for Natty, she has to share a room with her very chatty cousin Nerys and missing her Friday night chippy tea in the flat they used to live in above the ironmongers. She has to adjust to a new school where the teacher uses the cane and going home to the farm for lunch as there are no free school meals at this school. When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn’t be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place. 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!Just as Lesley Parr's first book, 'The Valley of Lost Secrets', showed us Wales through the eyes of a WW2 evacuee, her second book is also a warm evocation of that country, with fascinating glimpses of the language and culture. 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 reading Lesley’s first novel The Valley of Lost Secrets this was a highly anticipated book for me and I desperately fought the urge to read the early chapters released on Netgalley – didn’t want to spoil it for myself! Honestly, both books feel like and deserve to be future classics. Highly immersive historical novels and incredibly heart-warming they also incorporate a touch of cleverly written mystery. When the War Came Home might be set after World War 1 - and highlight the PTSD and grief experienced by so many soldiers - but it also features a battle against something many young readers today will have more direct experience: poverty, hunger & social inequity. Parr masterfully weaves these two very different - and quite harrowing - types of struggles together in a way that's accessible to younger readers without trivializing either issue. Because that moment, when Huw and Johnny's stories overlapped - my heart was just -- You know that feeling when you're about to uncover something - and there's this tingle in your gut, so unexplainable a feeling that you're about to stumble upon some truth when solving a puzzle or figuring out a clue in a crime scene and you can't believe how it all ties together. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 The author laid the groundwork so naturally - with such subtlety and tenderness, that when the pieces fell together, I felt so anxious - my heartbeat was actually palpitating! That would this be the moment of truth - would the truth come out - would it all work out? Would these young boys who had to become much before their chance to heal from what they have endured? 😢😢