A witty and engaging war time yarn. I gather this is a follow up to an earlier book, but that fact I hadn't read it - or even heard of it - didn't matter at all, as the characters were fully fleshed out. There are two strands to this story. One follows Winnie, ARP warden, who's plump, sensible, with a husband who's away fighting the war, and a glamorous twin sister who is neither plump nor sensible. The other follows Vee, who keeps herself solvent by running a boarding house whilst also raising her 15 year old orphaned nephew, that it turns out is not her nephew. It's not really any kind of spoiler alert to reveal that these two strands do eventually come together. I did have a little difficulty at first in keeping these two strands of the story apart - Winnie? Vee? I was easily confused. This is a book that brings the sheer boredom, drudgery and beigeness of the last year of the war to life: a period when it looked as though the war MIGHT end, but with no real signs in everyday life of its doing so - especially as bombs continued to do their worst in London. I enjoyed getting to know the main characters - apart from Winnie and Vee, Vee's 15 year old 'nephew' Noel is the other main protagonist, but there are others with engaging bit parts, such as the twin sister Ruth, an American GI Mario, and the various boarding house inhabitants. An easily read and involving novel. ( )

This is the third in the Noel Bostock series. I've read the two previous books, but it has been such a long time since I read them, this could certainly be read as a stand - alone novel. It's a heartwarming and engaging tale. The story takes place in 1944 London during the Blitz. Noel's " aunt" Vee is getting making do by running a lodging home known as Green Shutters. A group on interesting characters lodge there, and in exchange for tutoring Noel part- time , they pay a slightly reduced fee. Mr Jepsen works as a reporter for the North London Press, and teaches 14 year old Noel Latin, Dr. Parry-Jones tutors in Science, Mr Reddish teaches Math, and Mrs Appleby mixes her French tutoring in with more personal lessons about the heart. ARP Winnie Crowther is a senior Warden at Warden Post 9, where she and her colleagues deal with the aftermath of the bombings. All of these memorable people combine to create a fascinating story.

4. 5 stars ( )

A terrific view of London in the last months of WWII. Was glad to reunite with Vee and young Noel as they try to make slim resources stretch enough to feed their lodgers. Bombs keep raining down, but by now people are used to this and though they care where they fell they also no look over panic and the building once there, now gone has become commonplace. A new threat to the real identity of V and two visitors for Noel, cause a small panic.

Also Winnie, who is a warden and sees all the horrors of the war. Worried about her husband who is in a prisoner of war camp. This is a follow-up to [book:Crooked Heart|19546111] and though this can be read alone, I think knowing what came before, how Noel and V came together, make this story richer. ( )

I've always hoped Lissa Evans that would write a follow to the absolutely wonderful Crooked Heart. And she has! V for Victory has just released.

I fell in love with Vee and Noel in the previous book. Vee, aka Mar, has left the scamming behind and instead runs a lodging house, giving Noel a stable home. Their lives are as good as they can be, given the times. But when Vee is called as a witness to an accident, their carefully constructed life may come crumbling down.

Evans has created such tangible characters in Vee and Noel. I like them both very much, but I must admit that my heart belongs to Noel. He's clever and kind, a teenager now, but inside he's still the boy without parents. That need to know propels one of the plot lines in this latest. There are other characters, each with their own plotlines as well - Winnie the local air raid warden, her twin sister turned author, and the myriad lodgers. And slowly but surely, the disparate threads start to weave themselves together. The wartime setting is also a character in Crooked Heart. The rationing, the attitudes, the bombings and more all shape, direct and change the course of each and every character.

Now, yes, there are sad situations, but.....Evans has a wickedly dark sense of humour that's quite appealing. Her sly wit is visible in a description, a look or a snippet of dialogue, or a passage from a book.

I love books that speak to the human condition - life, love, death and everything that comes in between. Even more poignant in wartimes. Evans easily captures all of the above.

V for Victory is heartwarming, heartbreaking and so very good. Heartily recommended! ( )

I read Lissa Evan's Crooked Heart shortly before its release in 2015. It was a five-star book that's remained with me since then: the story of a London orphan, Noel, sent out of the city during the blitz, who finds himself living with a small-time con woman, Vee. I hadn't thought of it as a book that needed a sequel: it was complete in its own right, funny and sad, and hopeful all at once. But when I saw that Evans had a new book coming out, V for Victory, featuring the Vee and Noel, I knew I had to read it.

The central characters from Crooked Heart, relocated to London, are at the heart of this novel, but Evans brings in a broader cast of characters: a female air raid warden whose husband is a prisoner of war, her self-obsessed twin sister, and a cast of characters that populate the boarding house run by Vee (now living under an alias), who also serve as tutors to the perspicacious Noel. The novel starts slowly, giving readers familiar with Crooked Heart a chance to reconnect with Vee and Noel and giving time for them to gradually come to know the new characters. The real action begins at the halfway point and speeds up from there to a swift denoument that feels utterly natural.

If you haven't read Crooked Heart, I would recommend reading it before you begin V for Victory because a) it's such a wonderful novel in its own right and b) it's delightful to return to Vee and Noel as old acquaintances and to understand the origins of their relationship. V for Victory pulls at the heart, but doesn't rend it, and despite myriad small problems it's a happy tale—even when Vee and Noel are most under threat.

Even if you've read a lot of WWII fiction, V for Victory is worth picking up. It shows a more ordinary side of the war than so many novels offer. No sudden and lasting romance, but a gradual discovery of fondness and unsuspected strengths among characters. No beautiful heroine—just a middle aged woman making her way through life by any means she can dream up. No handsome, well-mannered hero—just Noel who is suspicious and reads social situations poorly, but who is an absolute delight in both his intelligence and his internal moral compass.

V for Victory is a don't-wait-to-read-it title, worth picking up at its release (which happens to be 5/11/2021). It's also a book one can return to without growing bored, providing time in good company when a reader needs a novel that refreshes and sustains, rather than something that pushes them to the edge of terror or disaster.

I received a free electronic review copy of V for Victory from the publisher. The opinions are my own. ( )