Listen to the Moon

Listen to the Moon

By Author / Illustrator

Michael Morpurgo

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

9+

Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN

9780007339631

Format

Hardback

Published

25-09-2014

Synopsis

The stunning novel set during World War One from Michael Morpurgo, the nation's favourite storyteller and multi-million copy bestseller.


May, 1915.


Alfie and his fisherman father find a girl on an uninhabited island in the Scillies - injured, thirsty, lost... and with absolutely no memory of who she is, or how she came to be there. She can say only one word: Lucy.


Where has she come from? Is she a mermaid, the victim of a German U-boat, or even - as some islanders suggest - a German spy...?


Only one thing is for sure: she loves music and moonlight, and it is when she listens to the gramophone that the glimmers of the girl she once was begin to appear.


WW1 is raging, suspicion and fear are growing, and Alfie and Lucy are ever more under threat. But as we begin to see the story of Merry, a girl boarding a great ship for a perilous journey across the ocean, another melody enters the great symphony - and the music begins to resolve...


A beautiful tour de force of family, love, war and forgiveness, this is a major new novel from the author of PRIVATE PEACEFUL - in which what was once lost may sometimes be found, washed up again on the shore...

Reviews

Dorne

It is May, 1915, and Alfie and his fisherman father find a girl on one of the uninhabited islands in the Scillies. She is injured, alone and frightened with no memory of how she came to the island, in fact no memory of who she is or where she came from. The only word she utters is Lucy and everyone assumes that is her name. Alfie's parents give 'Lucy' a home and gradually grow to love her but not all the islanders feel the same way; the first world war is underway and there is talk of German spies. This is a beautiful story told through several voices and over a period of time. The characters are rounded and well written and feel like real people. The history of the period is brought to life through the eyes of all the characters and the reader really cares what happens to Alfie, Lucy and their family and friends. It is very much a story about family, family ties, forgiveness and memory. We find out about the sinking of the Lusitania and what that lead to. Absolutely trademark Morpurgo, creating the feeling that he is writing about events and people that he has experienced and knows. Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. 436 pages / Ages 9+ / Reviewed by Dorne Fraser

Suggested Reading Age 9+

 

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