Elinor's Reviews > Good Night, Mr. Tom

I thought by the title and the cover that this would be a simple little tale, but it was actually very harrowing! Young William is an evacuee from the city streets of London who is deposited in the rural cottage of a crusty old widower. Will has endured some ghastly abuse at the hands of his mother, the description of which is now burned into my brain. Happily the old man and the boy form a bond that benefits both of them. Aside from the personal story, the book raised a lot of questions for me about how the evacuation was handled. No doubt it saved lives, but some of these children and their parents must have suffered terribly.