The Valley of Lost Secrets

Product Information

A fast-paced and emotionally-gripping story of two brothers, evacuated to the Welsh valleys during WW2. From the start of the book, mysteries pile up and the reader starts asking questions about this countryside where everyone is strangely quiet. It is the wonderful characters and irresistible storytelling that gives this adventure more depth than any Welsh valley.

The Valley of Lost Secrets | BookTrust The Valley of Lost Secrets | BookTrust

Jimmy and Ronnie were both such lovely characters and I loved seeing them settling in to the Welsh village where they have been evacuated to. The ways in which Parr described her characters adapting to this huge change, of finding a home away from home, rung familiar and with its themes of friendship and brotherhood it really had its heartfelt moments. It was a bit slow for me but i enjoyed the book's illustrations whereby the tree grew from a small plant to a huge tree 🌳. But it's the skull in the tree that holds Jimmy's attention, a secret he shares with Ronnie and Florence.How friends can become people we didn’t expect and we can make new friends with the most unlikeliest person. The horrible people were truly horrible-even more so b/c I’m sure there were really people like that then. Jimmy's best mate Duff and his sister are chosen right away, and even Florence Campbell, a girl no one wants to have anything to do with because she and her clothing are always so dirty, is chosen before Jimmy and Ronnie. there was a tree at the beginning of every chapter and as the plot escalated, items were added on the tree which were clues for the solution of the mystery.

The Valley of Lost Secrets, When The War Came Home, Where The

The language is sprinkled with Welsh dialect to add authenticity and there is cast of sympathetic characters and some (slightly clichéd) villains. Great characters, beautiful setting descriptions, a good pace throughout with an interesting but not overly complicated plot.The mystery will certainly keep readers gripped but it’s the characters and the place that will stay with them. The way Jimmy treats Ronnie is both caring and frustrating; he is very protective of his younger brother, but he also doesn’t like the way Ronnie seems to immediately adapt to the change, and this means he sometimes lashes out. Jimmy can sense a mystery there but also does not want to let them get too close as he feels disloyal to his Dad and Gran back in London. A story of friendship, love, loss and belonging; of looking at people deep past their exterior, and of the love and pain in a human heart. And Jimmy is an interesting character, unhappy about leaving his dad and Nan, resistant to letting himself settle in too comfortably with the Thomases, and very affectionate and protective of his younger brother.