Crooked Heart

Narrator Karen Cass brings charm and a touch of drama to this affecting story of what happens when impulsive 30-something Vera takes in practical 10-year-old Noel, an orphan who has been evacuated to the suburbs of London during WWII. Cass's broad vocal register and ability to render a range of British accents bring authenticity to the dialogue as Noel and Vera cross paths with a variety of Londoners while they implement money-making cons. Cass's excellent pacing carries listeners smoothly from quiet moments, as when Noel misses his late godmother, to the action, as when Vera is caught outside during a bombing. Listeners will be entranced by Cass's portrayals of two lost souls who discover they make a good team and a solid family. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

May 11, 2015
British author Evans makes her American debut in this Baileys Women’s Prize–longlisted dark comedy with heart, set in London during World War II. After the death of his beloved godmother Mattie, a former suffragette whose keen intellect had begun to buckle under dementia just as the Blitz commenced, 10-year-old Noel Bostock is evacuated to a suburb of London. He is placed with Vera Sedge, a middle-aged widow who has designs on using Noel, who limps, to elicit sympathy for her small-time con game, exploiting ordinary people’s generosity during wartime for her own ends. Vera’s grown son, Donald, is running his own racket, helping enlisted men fail their medical exams. Noel’s precociousness, combined with the distrust of authority instilled in him by Mattie, makes him a difficult child for many adults to like, and though Vera has enough of her own troubles, somehow the two of them—awkwardly but endearingly—find a connection. Evans, who has published several children’s books, is especially adept at capturing Noel’s appealing blend of sophisticated bravado and naive fragility—all without lapsing into sentimentality. Most valuable, though, is the tragicomic portrayal of the petty betrayals and profound losses that characterized ordinary people’s everyday wartime experiences.