Letters from the Lighthouse: ‘THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION’ Guardian: 1

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But that doesn’t mean I don’t like any of the other characters because I really loved them all Especially Queenie and Esther because there were just so unpredictable and I really liked that one minute they could be kind and one minute they could be ever so mean.

I have read numerous stories set during World War II and having at the center the evacuation of English city children to the countryside. Although it is fiction, the book contains a lot of historical contexts and this could be a powerful teaching tool to use across the curriculum. See our Remarkables Archive list for what is no longer in print, but which we are happy to track down. Olive is a likeable heroine who copes remarkably well with her situation showing a maturity and kindness that readers can learn much from. Along with her younger brother, Cliff, Olive is evacuated to the Devonshire town of Budmouth Point with no answer as to what happened to her older sister.

Furthermore, can Olive and Cliff penetrate the chill of their evacuation and find safety, solace and thereafter, Sukie? With classics such as Ted Hughes's The Iron Man and award-winners including Emma Carroll's Letters from the Lighthouse, Faber Children's Books brings you the best in picture books, young reads and classics.

From Nobel Laureates Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter to theatre greats Tom Stoppard and Alan Bennett to rising stars Polly Stenham and Florian Zeller, Faber Drama presents the very best theatre has to offer. German bombs are falling like pennies from a bottle when Olive and her family are struck by a bomb blast. The Letters From the Lighthouse’ is an amazing story of a girl and her brother trying to solve the mystery of their missing sister, Suzie. It is a story of mystery and revelation, of loss and hope, of togetherness and separation, of prejudice and enlightenment.The author conveys the relationship between these two younger siblings beautifully; Olive’s love and care for her eight-year-old brother is palpable. The main theme of this book is how peopole have to leave home to fight for their country but Olive soon realises that her father isn't coming home. Without being preachy, the story also encompasses the themes of empathy, tolerance and kindness; such important messages in our current world. The book had a happy ending, despite the difficult experiences the characters had endured and if I could, I would give this book a five star review. That the story, with Olive and Cliff, should move to Devon, with evacuees, and a secret refugee support network, is quite some feat of dextrous writing.