Tom Palmer introduces his new historical fiction novel, If the Invader Comes

About Author

If the Invader Comes, a gripping historical fiction adventure set in Cornwall during WWII, is based on real life events. Author Tom Palmer tells us more.

Tom Palmer is the multi-award-winning author of many books including the Young Quills Award winners After the War and Resist, and FCBG Children’s Book Award winners Armistice Runner and D-Day Dog.

A passionate advocate for reluctant readers, Tom is currently patron of the School Library Association and a National Year of Reading Ambassador for Cornwall Libraries. TomPalmer.co.uk

Interview

May 2026

Tom Palmer shares the real life inspiration behind his latest historical fiction novel

If the Invader Comes, a gripping historical fiction adventure by Tom Palmer, is set in Cornwall during WWII, at a time when invasion by the German army was a profoundly real risk.

ReadingZone caught up with Author Tom Palmer to talk about the real life events that helped inspire his new Barrington Stoke novel, and the themes he explores in the novel including PTSD, bullying and friendship.

Find out more about If the Invader Comes, plus extract Review: "Inspired by real life events and places, If the Invader Comes gives its reader an insight into the effect of the hostilities on a small coastal community."

Tom Palmer Q&A: Exploring the real life events behind 'If the Invader Comes'

"A government document was put through every letterbox, called IF THE INVADER COMES.
It tells people what to do in the event of the enemy arriving. It's terrifying."

1. What first brought you into writing historical fiction, and why do you enjoy setting stories in the past - or is your heart still with your footballing stories?

My heart's with the history now. What got me into it? War films on the TV when I was a kid. Thinking war was exciting . . . then, when I was in my 20s, realising what war is really like. For civilians as well as the military.

It's that weird thing where we entertain ourselves with war (through films and books and gaming), but know it is appalling. I think that's why I write about it. I am confused.

2. Where do you find inspiration for your historical fiction, and why do so many of your novels feature the first or second world wars?

I find out about the lives people have lived, what they sacrificed, what they lost, but also how war changed them. This from books, museums, meeting the people who were involved. I think that is why I have struggle to write other historical periods to be honest. There is not enough reliable testimony or other primary sources for when I wrote books set in Tudor and Iron Age times . . . which might well be why they were roundly rejected.

3. What happens in If the Invader Comes, the first book in the Allies series, and what do you have planned for the series?

Three children have parents who appear to be not pulling their weight in the war effort, according to the rest of the community. The kids work out what their parents are really doing and are drawn into helping prepare for if the invader comes. Book one is about invasion and is set in a huge, magical garden, at sea and on an airfield. Book two is about the siege of Britain in 1941-43. Book three is about the fightback.

4. Who are the three children at the heart of the adventures, and why do they work so well together - what does each one bring to the group?

Cilla is half-American and the daughter of the wealthy local land owner. Bobble is the very Cornish daughter of the gardener of Cilla's dad's garden. Cadan is the son of a local fisherman and French mum.

They're all different. They're all fiercely proud and protective of their parents. And they're all willing to be Allies for the duration of the war, despite their differences.

5. What inspired you to write about this period during WWII, right after the Battle of Dunkirk, and focusing on the danger of Britain being invaded by the Germans?

It's just so fascinating. We really should have been invaded and occupied like most of the rest of Europe. There are lots of reasons why we didn't, but the main one was the sea.

I read loads about it. The key is a government document that was put through every letterbox, called IF THE INVADER COMES. It tells people what to do in the event of the enemy arriving. It's terrifying.

6. Why did you decide to set this story in Cornwall, and how well do you know the area? Do you like to know your settings well before you write them?

First of all, I want to write wartime stories set not in London. I've done three in Cumbria and now Cornwall. A lot of us know about the Battle of Britain over the south east and the blitz of London. But what about the bombing of Falmouth? And Operation Aerial that is barely mentioned? And the fisherman of Cornwall and Brittany and who - working together - they helped win the war? And the Americans who went to Normandy, many to their deaths? Our Allies! The French. The Americans. They spent their last days in Cornwall before the horrors of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.

And why Cornwall? I love it. I live here now. Me and the family just moved here in early 2026, but have been coming as a family for 20 years. I went deep with my research and am so grateful to the museums, libraries, archives and people who have helped me. They are so generous.

7. You credit a class at Mylor Bridge Community Primary School, for helping in planning your novel - can you tell us more about that?

Yes, I approached them and they helped me with ideas and editing and research. I set the book in their village and - with the help of their older generations - they gave me some great guidance. Although I live in Cornwall now, I am Yorkshire, so needed their help.

8. The children in the novel face many dangers, including a planned sabotage of a viaduct and German E-boats in England's waterways. How much of this is based on what actually happened?

Both true. There was a plan for a unit of secret civilians to blow up Penryn Viaduct if the invader came . . . to slow them down so that the rest of Britain could be saved. They were were quite prepared to die to do their job. Fishermen. Farmers. Land owners.

The E-boats are true, too. You might have read about the catastrophe at Slapton sands in Devon? That was carried out by E-Boats. I'd heard of U-Boats, but E-boats were new to me.

9. If the Invader Comes is full of adventure, but you also explore themes of bullying, otherness and PTSD. What kinds of discussions do you hope the story will encourage?

Discussions about just that. All three subjects. How we can sometimes default to guardedness, even unkindness, in the way we relate to others. A lot of us do it. Some of it, anyway. Some of us, maybe not all of us.

I've been bullied and, I am sorry to say, have bullied others, or at least been mean enough for them to say that's what I was doing. I've assumed I knew about people who were different to me and been guarded and weird with them, not thinking about what they have been through, not bothering to find out. And I know people with PTSD and how it won't go away and makes life really hard.

10. What kinds of things do you enjoy doing when you're away from your notebook, and where do you go to find inspiration for your next historical fiction novel?

I like talking to my wife and daughter. I like running and watching football and camping halfway up mountains. And recently… gardening. The next novel is being inspired by lots of reading, but also trips. I am taking the ferry from Plymouth to Brittany soon… in preparation for Allies book 2.

Creative Challenge from Tom Palmer: My writing challenge is to read the original document that was sent to homes when it looked very likely Britain would be invaded by the Nazis. You can read it here.

Read the things the government asked people to do. Children were asked to hide their bicycles. They were told to store food so the enemy would not steal it. Can you base a story around what you think would happen IF THE INVADER CAME.

Arranging a School Visit by Tom Palmer: I do a lot of school visits. I can do what schools want, making it very bespoke. I can do history, football and reding, reading for pleasure and writing workshops. Find out more here You can contact me direct via [email protected]

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