From the TBR Pile: Blog Tour: Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Author: Lissa Evans
Publisher: Harper
Date of publication: July 28, 2015

Paper Moon meets the Blitz in this original black comedy set in World War II England, chronicling an unlikely alliance between a small-time con artist and a young orphan evacuee.

When Noel Bostock—aged ten, no family—is evacuated from London to escape the Nazi bombardment, he lands in a suburb northwest of the city with Vera Sedge—a thirty-six-year-old widow drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, she’s unscrupulous about how she gets it.

Noel’s mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Wise beyond his years and raised with a disdain for authority and an eclectic attitude toward education, he has little in common with other children, and even less with the impulsive Vee, who hurtles from one self-made crisis to the next. The war’s provided unprecedented opportunities for making money, but what Vee needs—and what she’s never had—is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she’s a disaster. With Noel, she’s a team.

Together they cook up a scheme. Crisscrossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to turn a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. But there are plenty of other people making money off the war—and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn’t actually safe at all.

Crooked Heart is a story set in war-time England during a time when Londoners were sending their children out of the city to the country in order to save them from the bombings. After his godmother dies, Noel is shipped off to the country. There he is fostered by Vee, a widowed con artist living with her mother and loser son.

I really wanted to like this book. I find myself in the minority when I say that it was a DNF for me. I was so bored. It just didn't grab me and I gave up about 35% of the way in. Noel was a puzzling character and Vee just wasn't likable. She is one of those people who always has a scheme up her sleeves and I didn't find anything about that aspect of her character appealing.

As I said, I am in the minority in this instance. Check out the tour list below as well as the Goodreads review page to see what others who think.

About Lissa Evans

Lissa Evans, a former radio and television producer, is the author of three previous novels, including Their Finest Hour and a Half, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize. Crooked Heart was also longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize); it is her first novel to be published in the US. Evans lives in London with her family.

Find out more about Evans at her website, and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Lissa’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, July 28th: 100 Pages a Day … Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Wednesday, July 29th: BookNAround

Thursday, July 30th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, July 31st: From the TBR Pile

Monday, August 3rd: Raven Haired Girl

Tuesday, August 4th: Savvy Verse & Wit

Wednesday, August 5th: A Bookworm’s World