Letters from the Lighthouse

'The Queen of historical fiction.' Guardian

Emma Carroll

From the queen of historical fiction, Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll is a stunningly evocative wartime drama, and sure to keep you breathlessly reading to its very last page.

'Has the feel of a classic.'Sunday Times
'A gripping adventure.'Guardian
'Echoes of Michael Morpurgo.'The Times
'Another beautifully written story.'Sunday Express
'The tension builds until the very end.'Daily Mail


We weren't supposed to be going to the pictures that night. We weren't even meant to be outside, not in a blackout, and definitely not when German bombs had been falling on London all month like pennies from a jar.

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.

'A gripping adventure.' Guardian

'A triumph.' The Bookseller

'Carroll sews together accessible history with a cracking plot and a character to love in the strong, principled Olive.' The Times, Children's Book of the Week

What readers are saying:

'I recommend that you buy this book now!!' Hugo, age 11

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'It will be the most incredible book you've ever read.' Ananya, age 9

Table of contents

• Landing Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Keep Calm and Carry On
• Make Do and Mend
• Mothers: Send Them Out of London
• The Round-Up
• Caring for Evacuees is a National Service
• Do Your Duty
• Lend a Hand on the Land
• Loose Lips Sink Ships
• Attack on All Fronts
• Careless Talk Costs Lives
• Walls Have Ears
• Freedom is in Peril
• When in Doubt, Lights Out
• Keep it Under Your Hat
• Turning the Tide
• Hitler Will Send No Warning
• X Marks the Spot
• Together
• It’s a Full-Time Job to Win
• Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases
• Where Skill and Courage Count
• May You Never Know What it Means to be a Refugee
• Each Little Error Gives Your Enemy More Time
• V For Victory
• United We Are Stronger
• Praise for Emma Carroll
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright
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