When 10 year-old Noel is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he ends up living in St. Albans with Vera Sedge, a women drowning in debts and dependents. Noel's got no family left, and no real connection with Vera. However, Vera, always looking for new opportunities to make money, sees a gem in Noel. Together, they cook up an idea, and as Vera starts to make a profit, Noel regains his interest in life. However, it's a dangerous way of life.
There is nothing like a war to bring out the entrepreneurial spirit in people. Shameful profiteering made funny by two unlikely bilkers, a brilliant 10 year old orphan named Noel Bostock and a 36 year old gal, named Vee Sedge, who is down on her luck and up to her eyeballs in debt and not above doing whatever con it takes to get by, . Noel was raised by his eccentric former suffragette godmother Mattie, who despised authority and found education to be an embraceable concept to experience rather than observe. Hence, Noel grew up very worldly, socialized and well informed as opposed to other children his age who tended to have a more street-wise grasp and disdain for education in any form. We know already with these characters good things are coming. Bombs keep dropping, WWII England is undergoing Hitler’s Blitzkrieg and poor Noel is evacuated with a bunch of other children to the suburbs to keep them safe from the bombs in London. Bullies abound, it’s so hard to be understood when you are 10 years old, speak fluent Latin and find the behavior of other children your age uninteresting and vulgar. Noel is smarter than most of the adults he comes in to contact with in the story. Vee is trying to support herself, her grown son Donald, and her mother, who became an invalid when at 17 Vee told her mother she was pregnant by a married man. Her mother who was standing at the stove cooking at the time, fainted hitting her head and concussing at the news. She was rendered an invalid (or just gave up doing anything anyway after that) and Vee feeling it her fault takes care of her mother out of guilt waiting on her hand and foot. Enter an evacuee (Noel) and an opportunity to make a little something from taking the poor lad in for Vee. Always seeing dollar signs Vee sets the example when she sees possibilities in the tragedy of the war to make a little money by going door to door in neighborhoods a bus ride away, collecting financial donations for the war effort to build Spitfires, or for Widows, or for orphans and needless to say putting the money into her own pocket. Vee goes for the better con taking Noel along having him limp and look shell shocked. Together they come up with more lucrative cons but as hard times continue roguish brutes come out to prey. It seems everyone is running some type of scam or just being scandalous as food is rationed, people are hiding in bomb shelters and dodging destruction. Rats aren’t the only vermin on the streets. A good read, I enjoyed it. A sweet treat to find humor in WWII.
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