'I did a dreadful thing, the worst thing of my life, when I was twelve and a half years old, and nothing can change it'

When the bombs rain down on London, Carrie and her little brother Nick are evacuated to a small town in the Welsh hills. Away from their mother and everything that is familiar to them, they must take refuge among strangers. Reluctantly, Mr Evans, the grocer, takes them in, with his kind, timid sister, Aunt Lou. But the children find little comfort in his austere home.

Their fellow evacuee, Albert, is luckier, living in a rambling old mansion with Hepzibah Green and Mister Johnny. Hepzibah is rumoured to be a witch, but the children feel safe in her warm kitchen, spellbound by her stories. Just as Carrie and Nick begin to settle into their new life, something happens that tests their loyalties: will they be persuaded to betray their friends?

'A deep, dark, brilliant novel' Emma Carroll