Lissa Evans

Moving away from everything familiar to live in a new house, 10-year-old S. Horten reluctantly befriends the annoying triplets next door and is swept up in a magical quest to find his great-uncle Tony, a famous magician who disappeared along with his fantastical workshop.

Magic, Mystery & a Very Strange Adventure

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms

Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2015 When Noel Bostock âe" aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he ends up living in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thirty-six and drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, sheâe(tm)s unscrupulous about how she gets it. Noelâe(tm)s mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Brought up to share her disdain for authority and eclectic approach to education, he has little in common with other children and even less with Vee, who hurtles impulsively from one self-made crisis to the next. The warâe(tm)s thrown up new opportunities for making money but what Vee needs (and what sheâe(tm)s never had) is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, sheâe(tm)s a disaster. With Noel, sheâe(tm)s a team. Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isnâe(tm)t actually safe at allâe¦

Crooked Heart

'The work of a novelist in her prime' Daily Telegraph 'Wise and witty' Sarah Hughes, Observer 'Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist What do you do next, after you've changed the world? It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade. Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement. Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea - but what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past, one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for. Old Baggageis a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight. 'Utterly wonderful and intelligent' India Knight, Sunday Times Magazine 'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian 'This beautifully written story teems with atmosphere and perfect period detail but it's the brave and brilliant Mattie that makes it unforgettable' Sunday Mirror 'A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel, offering an invigoratingly fresh vantage on a well-trodden period' Patricia Nicol, Sunday Times

Old Baggage

A follow-up to the award-nominated Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms finds Stuart working as a junior curator at the museum where his great-uncle Tony's magical workshop objects are on display and embarking on a new mystery that challenges him to find the great magician's hidden will.

Magic, Mystery & Another Very Strange Adventure

Horten's Incredible Illusions

Their finest hour and a half

You're called Fidge and you're nearly 11. You've been hurled into a strange world. You have three companions: two are unbelievably weird and the third is your awful cousin Graham. You have to solve a series of nearly impossible clues. You need to deal with a cruel dictator and three thousand Wimbley Woos (yes, you read that sentence correctly). And the whole situation - the whole, entire thing - is your fault

Wed Wabbit

'At once funny and moving: the brisk kindness of the wardens will bring a lump to your throat. I could not have loved it more' Susie Steiner It's late 1944. Hitler's rockets are slamming down on London with vicious regularity and it's the coldest winter in living memory. Allied victory is on its way, but it's bloody well dragging its feet. In a large house next to Hampstead Heath, Vee Sedge is just about scraping by, with a herd of lodgers to feed, and her young charge Noel ( almost fifteen ) to clothe and educate. When she witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court, the repercussions are both unexpectedly marvellous and potentially disastrous - disastrous because Vee is not actually the person she's pretending to be, and neither is Noel. The end of the war won't just mean peace, but discovery... With caustic wit and artful storytelling, Lissa Evans elegantly summons a time when the world could finally hope to emerge from the chaos of war. As sharply comic as Old Baggage and emotionally poignant as Crooked Heart, V For Victory once again shows Lissa Evans to be one of our most brilliant and subtle writers. __________________________________ Lissa Evans' writing is: Wise and witty - Sarah Hughes, Observer Original and so timely. And it made me weep at the end. - JoJo Moyes Bittersweet and comic. - Guardian Inspiring, moving, warm and wry...wonderful! - Marian Keyes Beautifully written. -Sunday Mirror Thoughtful, funny...invigoratingly fresh. - Sunday Times

V for Victory

Longlisted for the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction.

Their Finest Hour and a Half

A Novel

Small change for Stuart

From the author of the acclaimed Crooked Heart comes another “smart, funny, ingenious, revealing tale of London life during the Second World War” (The Independent)—longlisted for the Orange Prize upon its original publication in England. It is 1940. France has fallen, and only a narrow strip of sea lies between Great Britain and invasion. The war could go either way and everyone must do their bit. Young copy writer Catrin Cole is drafted into the Ministry of Information to help “write women” into propaganda films—something that the men aren’t very good at. She is quickly seconded to the Ministry’s latest endeavor: a heart-warming tale of bravery and rescue at Dunkirk. It’s all completely fabricated, of course, but what does that matter when the nation’s morale is at stake? Since call-up has stripped the industry of its brightest and best, it is the callow, the jaded and the utterly unsuitable who must make up the numbers: Ambrose Hilliard, third most popular British film-star of 1924; Edith Beadmore, Madame Tussauds wardrobe assistant turned costumier; and Arthur Frith, whose peacetime job as a catering manager has not really prepared him for his sudden, unexpected elevation to Special Military Advisor. Now in a serious world, in a nation under siege, they must all swallow their mutual distaste, ill-will, and mistrust to unite for the common good, for King and Country, and—in one case—for better or worse.... “Evans displays a fine eye for detail and for the absurdities involved in filming. She also brilliantly evokes the disruption and dangers of wartime London. This funny, heart-warming and beautifully crafted novel is a must-read.”—Daily Mail (London)

Their Finest

This magical follow-up to Hortens Miraculous Mechanisms continues Stuarts amazing adventures--with more enchantment, more surprises, and more thrills. When we last left 10-year-old Stuart, he had just recovered his great-uncle Tonys long-lost magic workshop. Now all the priceless tricks are on display in the Beeton Museum--and Stuart is junior curator of the exhibit! But another mystery awaits Stuart: Where did the great magician hide his will? Only by entering the magic world of the workshop can he find the answer. But as the mechanisms whisk him off on increasingly incredible adventures, the puzzles become harder and harder to solve…and the stakes higher. With even more page-turning action, this second book in the exciting middle-grade series does a magic trick of its own: its even better than the first!

Ed and his sister Roo are faced with the most boring half-term holiday in history: five days spent in the company of their elderly neighbour Miss Filey, and her ancient, smelly cat. But when they find a box of birthday candles in a cupboard in Miss Filey's house, their world is changed completely. These are no ordinary candles, every single one of them comes with a wish.There's only one problem: some of those wishes actually belong to someone else . . .

Wished

It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade. Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign, she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill; and nothing, NOTHING since then has had the same depth, the same excitement. Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea. But what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past - one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for...

As if being small and having S. Horten as his name isn't bad enough, now 10-year-old Stuart is forced to move far away from all his friends. But on his very first day in his new home, Stuart's swept up in an extraordinary adventure: the quest to find his great-uncle Tony--a famous magician who literally disappeared off the face of the earth--and Tony's marvelous, long-lost workshop.

It's late 1944. Hitler's flying bombs are slamming down on London with vicious regularity, and it's the coldest winter in living memory. Allied victory is on its way, but it's bloody well dragging its feet. In a large house next to Hampstead Heath, Vee is just about scraping by, with a herd of lodgers to feed, and her teenaged charge Noel to clothe and educate. When she witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court, the repercussions are both unexpectedly marvellous and potentially disastrous - because Vee is not actually the person she's pretending to be. And neither is Noel...

Spencer, Fran and Iris have something in common: the feeling that life is passing them by. Spencer's lost his lover, who bequeathed him a list of things to do; Fran shares a run-down house with her oddball brother; whilst Iris spends her time cleaning up after her two teenage sons... SPENCER'S LIST is a wonderfully funny tale of life lived on the edge - of reason, of failure and of (just possibly) a brighter future. 'Bloody funny, bloody moving, bloody buy it' Meera Syal

Spencer's List

When Noel Bostock - aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he ends up living in St Albans with Vera Sedge, a thirty-six year old drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it. The war's thrown up new 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 an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. But there are plenty of other people making money out of 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 [Spoken word] [MP3 CD]

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, 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 make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war—and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn’t actually safe at all. . . .

Lissa Evans

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