Letters from the Lighthouse: ‘THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION’ Guardian: 1

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This book portrays both the light and shade of humanity in its truest form. I had no idea the difficulties Jews faced trying to enter our country at such a time and wish that our laws would have done more to help. I have read Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll which I have thoroughly enjoyed. The characters and the setting was descriptive with selective vocabulary suitable for the themes. The story was set in February 1941 at the beginning of the second World War in London and Devon, two very different cities. The characters include a mature girl named Olive, her older sister Sukie who has a strange pen pal, her younger brother Cliff and her widowed mother. There is a good variety of characters in the story as their culture, personality and behaviour. February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, twelve-year-old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast. The only person with two spare beds is Mr Ephraim, the local lighthouse keeper. But he's not used to company and he certainly doesn't want any evacuees.

February, 1941. After months of air raid bombings in London, Olive and Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast for their safety. Before they leave, their sister, Sukie, goes missing during an air raid, and Olive is determined to figure out what happened to her. While in Devon, Olive begins to unravel the mystery and finds out that her sister is more connected to Devon than she realized. The crisp prose and pacey plot make this novel a joy to read. The setting of Budmouth, a coastal Devon village dominated by a lighthouse, lends atmosphere and plenty of scope for exciting adventures. This book was very enjoyable to read. Emma Carroll explains all of the characters in great depth and each character is unique in some sort of way. The main theme of this book is how peopole have to leave home to fight for their country but Olive soon realises that her father isn't coming home. After being evacuated, Olive and her brother Cliff are evacuated to Devon and the only place available is a lighthouse. To try and be helpful she becomes a postman and starts sending secret messages to her sister Suki who was lost in an air raid, but she finds a code which she is convinced relates to her but how far will she go for her sister? This fictionalised story is as memorable as Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful and as beautifully written as Warhorse. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could give it nothing less than 5 stars.

LoveReading4Kids Says

The main theme of Letters from the Lighthouse is the importance of family, friendship, and loyalty in the face of adversity.

February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, twelve-year-old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast. The only person with two spare beds is Mr Ephraim, the local lighthouse keeper. But he's not used to company and he certainly doesn't want any evacuees. Desperate to be helpful, Olive becomes his post-girl, carrying secret messages (as she likes to think of the letters) to the villagers. But Olive has a secret of her own. Her older sister Sukie went missing in an air raid, and she's desperate to discover what happened to her. And then she finds a strange coded note which seems to link Sukie to Devon, and to something dark and impossibly dangerous. About This Edition ISBN: With a rich cast of village characters and a theme of prejudice and acceptance, it brings history close to us, Sunday Times Summer ReadingAlong the way she meets a variety of both friendly and unpleasant characters and not all of them are what they seem. Emma Carroll clearly put a lot of research into writing Letters from the Lighthouse. It lends itself very well to teaching a WWII topic to a class, as the prolific use of wartime terminology and speech does a fantastic job of educating the reader on specific aspects of the war. I read through the book beforehand and then timed my teaching to coincide with the book so that my children were able to better visualise what I was teaching them. Class Comments I enjoyed this book because there were a lot of mysterious things happening and at some points I didn't want to put the book down. I really enjoyed the character Olive because the liked trying to solve her sisters code whom went missing (the sister is called Sukie). This book has made me want to find out more about history because it is set in the 2nd World War and was very interesting so I would love to find out more. I want to read more books by Emma Carroll because they are very interesting and mysterious. I did enjoy this book because I like the characters in the story. I thought that the story was interesting and that the history in the book was believable. I found the history about World War II interesting and it encouraged me to try to find out more. Emma Carroll pulls on the reader’s heartstrings. She made me feel bad for Olive, but not only for her, for all people and families that suffered throughout WWII. The author used such powerful vocabulary, it felt like I was there. Not only is this a great book, it spreads a message. It shows you that just because you have a different religion, or you think differently, doesn’t mean you’re good or bad.’