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katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
I've read Lissa Evans' children's books before, and liked her style and subject. This is for older readers, adults really.
Set in World War II, the year of the Blitz, Noel loses his godmother and is evacuated out of London. Vee takes him in, seeing in him extra rations and money - she is besieged by debts, with an adult son who can't work and an elderly mother to take care of. Noel doesn't talk, seems 'simple', shouldn't get in the way of her schemes and plots.
She soon learns that her 10-year-old evacuee is something of a prodigy when it comes to making money in times of war... his former-suffragette godmother raised him in a rather unique way and he's incredibly bright and resourceful. Together, they may do well.
Vee and Noel make a cracking lead pair, a small boy who opens his mouth to spout out the most incredibly mature language and thoughts, Vee the widow whose sense of morality in wartime is definitely a shade of grey - but necessarily so, with no husband to provide.
Their (mis)adventures are enjoyable, they get involved in a few scrapes, make connections and show us the everyday, working-class view of London in wartime and what people had to do to get through it.
I really wanted more from Mattie, she's a great character at the start, but Vee and Noel are wonderful as well. It makes for an enjoyable period piece.
I accessed this as an audiobook, and it isn't a long one. Well-narrated, it was easy to follow and enthusiastically read.
Set in World War II, the year of the Blitz, Noel loses his godmother and is evacuated out of London. Vee takes him in, seeing in him extra rations and money - she is besieged by debts, with an adult son who can't work and an elderly mother to take care of. Noel doesn't talk, seems 'simple', shouldn't get in the way of her schemes and plots.
She soon learns that her 10-year-old evacuee is something of a prodigy when it comes to making money in times of war... his former-suffragette godmother raised him in a rather unique way and he's incredibly bright and resourceful. Together, they may do well.
Vee and Noel make a cracking lead pair, a small boy who opens his mouth to spout out the most incredibly mature language and thoughts, Vee the widow whose sense of morality in wartime is definitely a shade of grey - but necessarily so, with no husband to provide.
Their (mis)adventures are enjoyable, they get involved in a few scrapes, make connections and show us the everyday, working-class view of London in wartime and what people had to do to get through it.
I really wanted more from Mattie, she's a great character at the start, but Vee and Noel are wonderful as well. It makes for an enjoyable period piece.
I accessed this as an audiobook, and it isn't a long one. Well-narrated, it was easy to follow and enthusiastically read.
carolyn0613's review against another edition
5.0
A really super book, full of real and complex charaters. The plot was simple yet effective. The wartime traumas but also opportunities were described beautifully. Highly recommend this book. In fact I am going to make it my choice for my book club. Fantastic.
lib_and_lynx's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
4.0
What is the one thing that is more important than money, Noel?
Taste.
Hobbies are for people who don't read books.
But Peter tended towards condescension because his father was in the army reserve. And because he had a father.
When all the world is sad and grey
And all your hope seems far away
Look up and see the sky so blue
And know that joy is there for you.
He had never been bored with Mattie, never, never, never and now he was bored all the time, all the time; it was unbearable, like following mile after mile of grey string, with nothing at the end of it but a grim, distant, adult version of himself.
All things are difficult before they are easy, said Noel.
All over my fooking boots, you fooking fooker! bellowed a northern voice.
And his mother wore large hats and satin gloves, buttoned up to the elbow; he had three older sisters, all married, and when he went up to London in the Austin Tourer, he stayed at his club and dined late.
She hadn't expected him to be pleased to see her, but it wasn't nice to see the panic in his eyes.
You look all right, she said to him, shyly.
It was like the rare occasions on which she's downed a whisky: a few seconds of wincing and then fireworks all the way.
For a few moments in the garage, waiting for Harry to catch sight of her, she'd felt extraordinarily young, a sixteen-year-old wearing a bottle-green cloche and riding a borrowed bicycle over the ruts to Colney Heath. The act of actually speaking to him seemed to have had the opposite effect: she'd been flung forward, right over the handlebars and into middle age. Her back hurt.
Struggle as a hobby, maybe - struggle as something she did when she wasn't sitting reading a book.
A good wine. All other considerations are mere pretensions.
You mean that collective safety's more important than collective morality?
and he's a rottenstinkingdirtyTHIEF.
Mattie said that we should celebrate each glad moment as it comes.
Taste.
Hobbies are for people who don't read books.
But Peter tended towards condescension because his father was in the army reserve. And because he had a father.
When all the world is sad and grey
And all your hope seems far away
Look up and see the sky so blue
And know that joy is there for you.
He had never been bored with Mattie, never, never, never and now he was bored all the time, all the time; it was unbearable, like following mile after mile of grey string, with nothing at the end of it but a grim, distant, adult version of himself.
All things are difficult before they are easy, said Noel.
All over my fooking boots, you fooking fooker! bellowed a northern voice.
And his mother wore large hats and satin gloves, buttoned up to the elbow; he had three older sisters, all married, and when he went up to London in the Austin Tourer, he stayed at his club and dined late.
She hadn't expected him to be pleased to see her, but it wasn't nice to see the panic in his eyes.
You look all right, she said to him, shyly.
It was like the rare occasions on which she's downed a whisky: a few seconds of wincing and then fireworks all the way.
For a few moments in the garage, waiting for Harry to catch sight of her, she'd felt extraordinarily young, a sixteen-year-old wearing a bottle-green cloche and riding a borrowed bicycle over the ruts to Colney Heath. The act of actually speaking to him seemed to have had the opposite effect: she'd been flung forward, right over the handlebars and into middle age. Her back hurt.
Struggle as a hobby, maybe - struggle as something she did when she wasn't sitting reading a book.
A good wine. All other considerations are mere pretensions.
You mean that collective safety's more important than collective morality?
and he's a rottenstinkingdirtyTHIEF.
Mattie said that we should celebrate each glad moment as it comes.
mieefie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rikerandom's review against another edition
5.0
Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele
Rezensionsexemplar, zur Verfügung gestellt vom Verlag im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension ♥
Zu Beginn des zweiten Weltkriegs wird der junge Noel, ein zurückgezogenes, schüchternes Kind, das sich lieber mit Büchern denn mit seinen Mitschülern beschäftigt, mit der Kinderlandverschickung von London ins kleine St. Alban geschickt – fort von seiner Patentante Mattie und hin zur chaotischen Vera. Vera, oder Vee, hat ständig mit Schulden zu kämpfen und schmiedet immer wieder neue Pläne, wie sie zu Geld kommen könnte.
So unterschiedlich Noel und Vee auch sind, beide konnten mich sofort in ihren Bann ziehen, sowohl durch ihre authentischen Charaktere als auch durch ihren Umgang miteinander, der trotz ihrer großen Unterschiede instinktiv harmonisch ist. Die beiden Figuren ergänzen sich ganz wundervoll und es ist toll zu verfolgen, wie sie an einander wachsen und sich gegenseitig helfen – auf ganz unterschiedliche und nicht immer gänzlich bewusste oder absichtliche Art.
Aber auch die anderen Figuren, Mattie, Noels Patentante, die lediglich im Prolog und in den Erinnerungen des zehnjährigen Jungen auftaucht, Vees verstummte Mutter, die ihre Zeit damit verbringt, Briefe an alle möglichen Leute zu schreiben, in denen sie über Leben und Krieg philosophiert und Vees Sohn, Donald, faul und von Profitgier getrieben, sind so plastisch, so real dargestellt, dass man gar nicht anders kann, als sich von ihnen in den Bann der Geschichte ziehen zu lassen. Dazu kommt die Kriegskulisse, die authentisch und lebendig wirkt und den optimalen Hintergrund für diese Geschichte über das Leben, Freundschaft und allem, was dazu gehört.
Mich konnte Lissa Evans daher mit „Miss Vee oder wie man die Welt buchstabiert“ absolut begeistern, von der ersten Seite an haben mich ihre Figuren in den Bann dieser gefühlvollen Geschichte ziehen können. Definitiv eins meiner Topbücher dieses Jahr und eine dicke Empfehlung wert!
Rezensionsexemplar, zur Verfügung gestellt vom Verlag im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension ♥
Zu Beginn des zweiten Weltkriegs wird der junge Noel, ein zurückgezogenes, schüchternes Kind, das sich lieber mit Büchern denn mit seinen Mitschülern beschäftigt, mit der Kinderlandverschickung von London ins kleine St. Alban geschickt – fort von seiner Patentante Mattie und hin zur chaotischen Vera. Vera, oder Vee, hat ständig mit Schulden zu kämpfen und schmiedet immer wieder neue Pläne, wie sie zu Geld kommen könnte.
So unterschiedlich Noel und Vee auch sind, beide konnten mich sofort in ihren Bann ziehen, sowohl durch ihre authentischen Charaktere als auch durch ihren Umgang miteinander, der trotz ihrer großen Unterschiede instinktiv harmonisch ist. Die beiden Figuren ergänzen sich ganz wundervoll und es ist toll zu verfolgen, wie sie an einander wachsen und sich gegenseitig helfen – auf ganz unterschiedliche und nicht immer gänzlich bewusste oder absichtliche Art.
Aber auch die anderen Figuren, Mattie, Noels Patentante, die lediglich im Prolog und in den Erinnerungen des zehnjährigen Jungen auftaucht, Vees verstummte Mutter, die ihre Zeit damit verbringt, Briefe an alle möglichen Leute zu schreiben, in denen sie über Leben und Krieg philosophiert und Vees Sohn, Donald, faul und von Profitgier getrieben, sind so plastisch, so real dargestellt, dass man gar nicht anders kann, als sich von ihnen in den Bann der Geschichte ziehen zu lassen. Dazu kommt die Kriegskulisse, die authentisch und lebendig wirkt und den optimalen Hintergrund für diese Geschichte über das Leben, Freundschaft und allem, was dazu gehört.
Mich konnte Lissa Evans daher mit „Miss Vee oder wie man die Welt buchstabiert“ absolut begeistern, von der ersten Seite an haben mich ihre Figuren in den Bann dieser gefühlvollen Geschichte ziehen können. Definitiv eins meiner Topbücher dieses Jahr und eine dicke Empfehlung wert!
nicjohnston's review
5.0
This is a fabulous book. I heard Grace Dent championing it on BBC Radio 4 and gave it a bash. I rarely score 5 stars and have recommended this book to everyone I know, and all who have read it have loved it. The story is sublime, the structure slots into place and the ending is fabulous. However the two standout strengths of this book are the characters (everyone will stay with you) and the humour. I could not recommend more highly.