Black Comedy in WWII

This was an odd little read, but one that I really ended up enjoying. Strange to be laughing at a book with so much tragedy, but Crooked Hearts really embodies “gallows humor”.

10 year old Noel Bostock has been living with his grandmother, Mattie, in London — despite the fact that everyone else his age has been evacuated due to bombings. Mattie — a suffragette back in the day — teaches Noel new words every day, and fills his life with wonder and magic. Unfortunately, as the war rages on, Mattie begins to slowly lose her mind to dementia. Noel loses her one night, and after a brief stay with Mattie’s cousins, ends up shipped off as an evacuee after all. He lands with a woman named Vee Sedge. Vee takes in an evacuee hoping it will benefit her — she’s behind on all her bills, and already has her mother and grown son to care for. Despite not really liking Noel (he’s an odd little kid, but he’ll grow on you — and eventually, on Vee), she figures out how to use him to her advantage in a money-making scheme.

It’s a cute little book. Some truly awful events transpire within it — WWII-era London was not a happy, safe place to be — but everything’s offset by Noel and Vee. Noel’s a funny little kid — always using big words and coming up with new ideas — and some of the shit that floats through Vee’s head cracked me up. Mostly, it’s seeing the two of them work together (on a totally, totally illegal scam) that will really warm your heart.