Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Crooked Heart is unlike any novel I’ve read about WWII – it is both compelling, and at times, wickedly humorous. It doesn’t so much focus on the Blitz or the war itself, but on the people who have to get by in the mess and ruins. And what people these are! Unscrupulous, cheating the system, and finagling their way through the tough times.

But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself…

Ten year old Noel, is a odd, yet precocious boy who is being raised by his bookish godmother who has given him a vocabulary and wisdom well beyond his years. Mattie passes away after declining from dementia. Noel is sent to live with his father’s family, who are less than welcoming — and they soon cease the opportunity to evacuate Noel away from London. Noel is sent to the village of St Albans and taken in by a woman named Vee Sedge, who sees this as an opportunity to make some money.

Vee is a woman struggling to keep her head above water and has turned to petty (and not so petty) crimes without the skills or the brains to really make a go of it. Noel is not settling in at the village school, being odd-looking, sporting a limp, and intellectually far ahead of his grade. So he retreats to a corner of the dilapidated flat and escapes behind the books that Vee has acquired for him.

Vee’s days are dominated by her demanding, lazy mother, who sits all day writing letters to politicians and requesting countless cups of tea and toast. Meanwhile, Vera’s son Donald, is getting himself into hot water with his own illegal dealings.

Noel watches from the fringes as Vee, hurtles from one self-made crisis to the next. He soon catches on to Vee’s questionable schemes, and with his knowledge helps her refine and hone her routines…from collecting for fake war charities, to small thefts. Together they are a team and as they crisscross the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life.

Things are going well for our intrepid team — until they aren’t. Vee’s son Donald has crossed some very bad men. Other people interfere, things get in the way, betrayals happen, their sheltered world changes but Noel and Vee, victims of circumstance, endure and somehow grow.

What is wonderful about this novel, is how the characters change and grow throughout. Some for the better, some for the worse. Ms. Evans shows use not only the lengths people will go to survive; but also our need for love and support; and how people can take you by surprise.

Yes, the theme is the devastating affects of war, but the war itself takes a backseat to the the survivors. The focus is on the ordinary people trying to get by with grifts, stealing from the government, and while corrupt — forging unusual friendships all set against a very brutally honest backdrop of London during WWII.

I hated for this novel to end, and I’ll close with an author review, which mirrors my feelings for Crooked Heart.

With not a single combatant and only a few bombs, Lissa Evans has written a wonderful novel about the Second World War. Her two main characters are utterly irresistible, as is their unlikely alliance; I was cheering them on with every page.

Margot Livesey, author

Many thanks to Harper Collins, who kindly sent me a review copy

My apologies for taking 15 years to read it.