I did a dreadful thing, the worst thing of my life, when I was twelve and a half years old, and nothing can change it' It is wartime and Carrie and her little brother Nick have been evacuated from their London home to the Welsh hills. In an unfamiliar place, among strangers, the children feel alone and find little comfort with the family they are billeted with: Mr Evans, a bullying shopkeeper and Auntie Lou, his kind but timid sister. When Carrie and Nick visit Albert, another evacuee, they are welcomed into Hepzibah Green's warm kitchen. Hepzibah is rumoured to be a witch, but her cooking is delicious, her stories are enthralling and the children cannot keep away. With Albert, Hepzibah and Mister Johnny, they begin to settle into their new surroundings. But before long, their loyalties are tested: will they be persuaded to betray their new friends?

 

 

This book is part of a book series called Virago Modern Classics .

There are 224 pages in this book. This book was published in 2017 by Little, Brown Book Group .

Emma Carroll was a secondary school English teacher. Strange Star is Emma's fifth novel, she has also written Frost Hollow Hall, The Girl Who Walked on Air, In Darkling Wood and The Snow Sister. She lives in the Somerset hills with her husband and two terriers. Alan Marks is widely published and has illustrated many books. He is also a 'Smarties Prize' prize winner. Michael Morpurgo has brought together poems by writers as diverse as Spike Milligan and Stevie Smith, John Lennon and Jo Shapcott. Nina Bawden won the Guardian Award for The Peppermint Pig. Her bestselling novel, Carrie's War, has been adapted for both stage and TV.