“Can anyone else see you?”
It suddenly excited Nisha that she might be the only one who could see Twig.
Her own special friend.
“I come to those who need me, but they don’t always want to see.”

I love historical fiction and I love to read stories from the war. I always have since I was a child and fell in love with The Silver Sword and Carrie’s War.

Nisha’s War by Dan Smith intrigued me from the moment I first heard of it.

I wanted to know more about Nisha and her family. I wanted to know more about the Japanese invasion of Singapore during World War Two. I wanted to know more about the tree house on the island. I wanted to see what magic would unfold in a wartime adventure story where hope was a ghost in the darkness.

From the moment I first held this book in my hand I was hooked. I instantly fell in love with Nisha, the strong female protagonist. A child half Indian, half English arriving in Northern England from her war torn home in Malaya with her poorly Amma. Far from home, a refugee, feeling unwanted on the cold, dark grey island where her Grandmother lives. Where her father lived as a child. Hoping that her Grandmother will take them in and keep them safe

Throughout the story Nisha reveals more of what happened to them and the horrors they winessed as the Japanese invaded and bombed their home and village. Nisha struggles with panic and anxiety as she remembers the things that she heard and saw. We see her fear of planes and of the sea. Nisha, encouraged by Joy, a kind and caring land girl, writes her story. Her truth.

Nisha’s mother is very ill and so Nisha must try and settle into life on the island without her. She is helped by the friendly housekeeper, Mrs Foster, Joy and her new friend from the village, Jamie.

Nisha is lonely as she struggles to process her memories and make sense of what has happened to her and her family. Nisha faces racism and prejudice from the local community and finds it hard to connect with her Grandmother. I feel so sorry for Nisha and want more than anything for someone to scoop her up in a gentle cuddle and tell her that everything is going to be okay.

This is a story of family and friendship. A story of love and loss, grief and guilt, hope and healing. A war story, a ghost story, a danger filled adventure. This is a story that is brilliantly told and a story that is impossible to put down once you begin reading. I have found it very difficult to parent these past few days!

Because I do have to parent and home educate, and eat and sleep I am still a few chapters from the end of this amazing book. I have to leave you here and go finish it before the night ends.

I do not know yet the significance of the weeping tree or the tree house. I do not know what the three treasures are. I do not know what is inside the secret room though I am just about to find out! I do not know what has happened to Nisha’s father or if her mother will love or die! I do not know if Nisha’s Grandmother will accept her and love her and keep her with her on Barrow Island. I do not yet know if hermother can or will see Twig? But I need to find out, I need to find the answers to my questions, I need to find out how this story ends but at the same time I do not want it to end. Ever.

What I do know is that this is storytelling at it’s very best. Compelling, haunting and lyrical, beautiful descriptive language, settings that you feel part of and characters you truly care about and feel deeply invested in what happens to them.

I know that my twins are going to love this book. They will take very different things from it I think but I know that they will both love it.

Because I do.

It is beautiful.

Barrow Island
Haunts me
I think it always will
No matter where I go
Whatever I do
A part of me will always stay behind
On Barrow Island

We were sent a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review