LoveReading4Kids Says
A new novel from the acclaimed author of Coram Boy and The Wheel of Surya is a publishing event and this superb and evocative historical novel does not disappoint.
Weaving the true story of World War Two heroine Noor Inyat Khan into a fictionalised account allows the author to bring her character to life in a way that perhaps a straight biographical retelling would not. The creation of Noor’s school days and the friendship between the four very different girls allows the reader to experience the build up to and living through the war in very different circumstances and from very different perspectives. The girls are initially united by their shared lack of parents, who are all living abroad, leaving them at boarding school. Gwen’s story is told in the first person perhaps because being born in India mirrors the author’s own lived experience. Gwen is the steady fulcrum of the friendship and India is the initial link with Noor. Dodo’s English parents live the high life in Germany while Vera’s Jewish parents believe themselves to be safe in Paris.
The girls come and go through each other’s lives after school as each becomes more involved in the war effort. Gwen in the War Office then following her brother into the air as a pilot, while the other three become embroiled in espionage and resistance, kept secret even from each other. We are drawn into so many aspects of the war through the girl’s stories. The Blitz in London, the terrifying German occupation in Paris, the plight of Jewish families trying to escape and the infiltration of Nazi admirers into British high society and government. All the threads are woven together beautifully and the reader is entirely invested in these characters. Noor’s real story means that tragedy is inevitable and yet we are left inspired and hopeful for humanity.
A thoroughly rewarding, illuminating and memorable read with obvious and valuable curriculum links. Highly recommended.
Joy Court
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Never Forget You Synopsis
A stunning and heartbreaking new novel from Jamila Gavin, the bestselling and award-winning author of Coram Boy and The Wheel of Surya.
England, 1937. Gwen, Noor, Dodo and Vera are four very different teenage girls, with something in common. Their parents are all abroad, leaving them in their English boarding school, where they soon form an intense friendship. The four friends think that no matter what, they will always have each other.
Then the war comes. The girls find themselves flung to different corners of the war, from the flying planes in the Air Transport Auxiliary to going undercover in the French Resistance. Each journey brings danger and uncertainty as each of them wonders if they can make it through - and what will be left of the world. But at the same time, this is what shows them who they really are - and against this impossible backdrop, they find new connections and the possibility of love. Will the four friends ever see each other again? And when the war is over, who will be left to tell the story?
A heartbreaking and gripping story of hope, fear and unbreakable friendship, for readers of Code Name Verity and When the World Was Ours.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780755503346 |
| Publication date: |
7th July 2022 |
| Author: |
Jamila Gavin |
| Publisher: |
Farshore an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
512 pages |
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About Jamila Gavin
Jamila was born in Mussoorie (Bombay), India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Her Indian father and English mother met as teachers in Iran and by the age of eleven she had lived in an Indian palace in the Punjab, a flat in a bombed out street in Shepherd’s Bush, a bungalow in Poona, near Mumbai and a terraced house in Ealing. She settled into a little town cottage in Stroud, Gloucestershire twenty five years ago but she still loves to travel.
With an Indian father and an English mother, She inherited two rich cultures which ran side by side throughout her life, and which always made her feel she belonged to both countries. Her childhood memoir, "Out Of India" traces her life, illustrating the experiences from which she draws many of the ideas for my books.
Her family settled in England where she completed her schooling and further training as a music student at Trinity College of Music, London. After studies in Paris and Berlin she joined the BBC, first as a Studio Manager in radio, then crossed over to television as a Production Assistant and Director in Music and Arts Programmes. Later, she married Barrie Gavin and they had two children, a son, Rohan and a daughter, Indi. It was then that she began writing children's books, and felt a need to reflect the multi-cultural world in which she and her children lived.
Since her first book, "The Magic Orange Tree" was published in 1979, She has been writing steadily, producing collections of short stories, teenage novels and many books for educational schemes for the whole age range from six to sixteen. Her books have included "Grandpa Chatterji", which was short-listed for the Smarties Award and was dramatised for television on Channel 4 Schools, "Monkey in the Stars" which she then dramatised for a commission by the Polka Theatre, where it was performed in the autumn 2000 and "The Surya Trilogy" of which the first, "The Wheel of Surya", was special runner up for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award in 1992, while the others were subsequently all shortlisted for the same award.
Her novel, "Coram Boy", set in 18th century England, won the 2000 Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award and her first radio play, "The God at the Gate", broadcast as Play for Today on Radio 4 in September 2001, was shortlisted for the Richard Imison Award.
Her latest novel, "The Blood Stone", was published in November 2003. Set in 17th Century India and Venice, it is about a boy who has to take a diamond to India as a ransom to free his father, who is being held hostage in Afghanistan.
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