Listen to my interview with Lissa Evans: https://www.writersvoice.net/2021/06/judy-batalion-the-light-of-days-lissa-evans-v-for-victory/

Thank you Netgalley and Harper for access to this arc.

“V for Victory” seems a quieter book to me than “Crooked Heart.” Though there is a lot going on, it focuses on the people and their emotions. Together for four years, Vee and Noel have settled into their fake relationship of “aunt” and “nephew.” Given Vee’s life and the fact that rarely have things gone her way, she remains prickly and on guard, at risk of panicking if it appears that her secret might be exposed. Noel is growing into a young man with a still cracking voice but one who can become terrified at the thought of losing another person he’s come to care for and depend on. Vee is nothing like Mattie but when faced with the way another mother and son interact, Noel knows that he’s been lucky with the two guardians in his life.

When Winnie and Noel meet, Noel finds another woman who knew Mattie back in the day and he soaks up everything Winnie remembers of her days as an “Amazon.” Mattie had led the group of girls, fearlessly imbuing them with her own spirit and independence. One of the other girls had effortlessly been able to puncture the pretensions of Winnie’s (not identical) twin who is now married to a government official and writing a torrid novel featuring a fictionalized air raid warden. It was here that Winnie also met her best friend, a girl who exposed Winnie to the reality of true poverty and who ended up helping Winnie more than she helped Elsie.

As in the first book, I laughed at the humor – testy from Vee, dry from Noel, quiet from several of the boarders, and exasperated from Winnie. A lot of issues are shown such as the British resentment and exploitation of Americans as well as the things the British faced after the war – lack of housing and jobs, different opportunities for women, having fought for better for yourself and your (future) children, and not being willing to accept what they or their parents had been fobbed off with after the Great War. Yeah, social change is coming.

I enjoyed these complex characters and the subtle ways we learn about them. Vee is still irascible and worried that everything she’s finally found might still be snatched away from her but she has enjoyed her new social position as someone to whom the women of the knitting circle look up to, someone whose opinions are sought. Noel has his first crush then unexpectedly meets a person who is later described as never having been prepared for when things got hard. A boarder tells Noel that not all parental figures are ones you want in your life and his description lets Noel know why the man has endlessly bored them with recitations and quotes. Winnie’s glamorous sister has always hogged the limelight but one night shows us Winnie’s strengths earned during years of battling bombed buildings to try and help save who she can. Another man publicly reacts in a way that others feel is due to his time in the trenches in France yet there is a darker reason that is truly behind it. And then there is the ghost of Mattie whom so many remember for her zest, spirit, and boundless enthusiasm.

The final chapters wrap up several things that have been carried across to this book but in a graceful and effortless way. Threads are gathered and woven together, showing us the final image. It’s all understated but more powerful for that.The research seems impeccable but never shoved into the story just to show it off. Vee is astounded when someone quietly tells her that they believe in her and are willing to stand behind her. Noel finally learns about his past and discovers more about how Mattie influenced lives. Winnie faces a future that might not be the bleak one she was fearing. I’m happy with how things end and where these characters are in their lives though if we were to see Noel tackle changes in the fifties, I wouldn’t mind. B+

I read Lissa Evan's Crooked Heart shortly before its release in 2015. It was a five-star book that's remained with me since then: the story of a London orphan, Noel, sent out of the city during the blitz, who finds himself living with a small-time con woman, Vee. I hadn't thought of it as a book that needed a sequel: it was complete in its own right, funny and sad, and hopeful all at once. But when I saw that Evans had a new book coming out, V for Victory, featuring the Vee and Noel, I knew I had to read it.

The central characters from Crooked Heart, relocated to London, are at the heart of this novel, but Evans brings in a broader cast of characters: a female air raid warden whose husband is a prisoner of war, her self-obsessed twin sister, and a cast of characters that populate the boarding house run by Vee (now living under an alias), who also serve as tutors to the perspicacious Noel. The novel starts slowly, giving readers familiar with Crooked Heart a chance to reconnect with Vee and Noel and giving time for them to gradually come to know the new characters. The real action begins at the halfway point and speeds up from there to a swift denoument that feels utterly natural.

If you haven't read Crooked Heart, I would recommend reading it before you begin V for Victory because a) it's such a wonderful novel in its own right and b) it's delightful to return to Vee and Noel as old acquaintances and to understand the origins of their relationship. V for Victory pulls at the heart, but doesn't rend it, and despite myriad small problems it's a happy tale—even when Vee and Noel are most under threat.

Even if you've read a lot of WWII fiction, V for Victory is worth picking up. It shows a more ordinary side of the war than so many novels offer. No sudden and lasting romance, but a gradual discovery of fondness and unsuspected strenths among characters. No beautiful heroine—just a middle aged woman making her way through life by any means she can dream up. No handsome, well-mannered hero—just Noel who is suspicious and reads social situations poorly, but who is an absolute delight in both his intelligence and his internal moral compass.

V for Victory is a don't-wait-it title, worth picking up at its release (which happens to be 5/11/2021). It's also a book one can return to without growing bored, providing time in good company when a reader needs a novel that refreshes and sustains, rather than something that pushes them to the edge of terror or disaster.

I received a free electronic review copy of V for Victory from the publisher. The opinions are my own.