A gripping tale of loss, suffering and love told in the voice of a teenage American girl trapped in England with her English cousins when a world war breaks out. Not sure who the enemy is, but I think the author was imagining the sort of people who perpetrated 9/11 operating on a global basis. The tension is palpable throughout as is the terror. The casual and brutal murders of Joe and Major McEvoy and the discovery of what had happened at Gateshead Farm are described in compelling detail, the sheer horror of these events propel the second half of the book. The backwoods skills involved in Daisy and Piper’s long trek home are very real and the few moments of happiness amidst the terrible reality of their hunger and fear are very poignant. I found it impossible to predict the ending and when it came its intensity was startling. This is a rite-of-passage tale told with great delicacy and sympathy. And what’s worrying is that the events recounted in this story could happen, and they could happen sometime soon. reminded me of Golding's Lord of the Flies. Well worth reading and cogitating on.
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