Written for readers who have finished Book 1.
Mrs Hooper is Vera's neighbour and friend in Bethnal Green — the Fletchers' London anchor, all sharp opinions and sharper kindness. She and Vera see the war out together on their own street, and her voice, carried in Vera's letters, is one of the small warm constants that keep Edie tied to home. The comic heart of the London side of the story.
Bill Fletcher is Edie's father — an East-End dockman who signs on with the merchant navy and sails the…
Edie Fletcher is ten years old when the war sends her away — a London girl put on a train with a label round…
Hettie is the Pengelly farm's most disagreeable hen — big, rusty, bad-tempered, and nobody's friend, and the…
Joan Pengelly is Tom's older sister, on the edge of grown-up when Edie arrives — a careful politeness that…
Mr Pengelly is the farmer who takes Edie in — large, undemonstrative, and kinder than a wary London girl…
Mrs Pengelly is Edie's billet host — the gruff, fair, unsentimental Devon farm wife who is the hardest person…
What is in the books, who they are for, and a copy of the England companion novella to read together.