Showing results by author "Lissa Evans" in All Categories

It’s 1945, there’s a brand-new Labour government, and Valentine Vere-Thissett, aged 23, is returning home from an undistinguished war, spent in the ranks. But following the death of his heroic older brother, and to his horror, Valentine is now Sir Valentine, seventh Baronet and extremely reluctant heir to Dimperley Manor, a gigantic liability, devoid of income, sodden with debt and half-filled with stuffed animals and dependent relatives – the latter intent on clinging to an impossibly outdated way of life.

In a large house next to Hampstead Heath, Vee Sedge is just about scraping by, with a herd of lodgers to feed and her young charge Noel (almost 15) to clothe and educate. When she witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court, the repercussions are both unexpectedly marvellous and potentially disastrous – disastrous because Vee is not actually the person she’s pretending to be, and neither is Noel.

When Noel Bostock - aged 10, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he winds up in St Albans with Vera Sedge - 36, drowning in debts. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it. The war's thrown up all manner of new opportunities, but what Vee needs is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team.

Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women’s Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement. Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies.

Considering herself unsuitable for any other contribution to the war effort, Monica Dickens opts for nursing, imagining herself gliding through the wards, serene in a pure white halo cap. On enrolment, however, she is promptly stripped of all illusions. Intelligent and headstrong, Monica struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and toils over the mountains of menial work that are a trainee's lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men and her secret writing project to keep her going.

Ed and his sister, Roo, are faced with the most boring half-term holiday in history—five days spent in the company of their elderly neighbour, Miss Filey, and her ancient, smelly cat. But when they find a box of birthday candles in a cupboard in Miss Filey's house, their world is changed completely, because these are no ordinary candles, and every single one of them comes with a wish. There's only one problem—some of those wishes actually belong to someone else.

You're called Fidge, and you're nearly 11. You've been hurled into a strange world. You have three companions: two are unbelievably weird, and the third is your awful cousin Graham. You have to solve a series of nearly impossible clues. You need to deal with a cruel dictator and 3,000 Wimbley Woos (yes, you read that sentence correctly). And the whole situation - the whole, entire thing - is your fault. Wed Wabbit is an adventure story about friendship, danger and the terror of never being able to get back home again. And it's funny. It's seriously funny.

Stuart Horten, 10 years old and small for his age, is about to have the strangest adventure of his life. After moving to the boring town of Beeton, he finds himself swept up in an incredible quest to find his great-uncle's lost legacy - a magician's workshop stuffed with trickery and magic. There are clues to follow, unbearable neighbours to avoid and puzzles to solve, but what starts as fun ends up as danger, and Stuart begins to realise that he can't finish the task on his own.

Magic, mystery and a very dangerous quest. Stuart Horten (aged 10, but looks younger) is now the owner of a magician's workshop – a treasure trove of illusions and the gateway to seven magical adventures. Except that without his great-uncle's will and testament, Stuart can't actually prove the workshop is his. Can he solve the puzzles and find the will before it's too late? Or will the looming danger and increasing risks ruin his friendships for good?

Nichts im Leben von Vera Sedge verläuft nach Plan. Die 36-Jährige stolpert von einem selbstverursachten Drama ins nächste. Vee ist notorisch pleite, und es ist ihr egal, wenn sie auch mal krumme Wege geht. Dann humpelt der zehnjährige Noel in ihr Leben. Er ist mit der Kinderlandverschickung ins St. Albans gekommen. Hochbegabt, altklug und ganz anders als alle Menschen, die Vee bisher kennengelernt hat, bringt er sie auf eine brillante Idee. Doch es sind Noels kühler Kopf und sein großes Herz, die aus der Idee erst einen Geldsegen machen.