Angel of Grasmere by Tom Palmer

I’ve always liked Tom Palmer’s books, even when they were about football, a subject which interests me not at all. But it was when he started producing books set during and around the First World War that my heart as well as my head began to enjoy them. As regular readers of my (sporadic) blog will know, that’s the period of history that interests me most. But anything taking place in the first half of the twentieth century fascinates me. Thus, Angel of Grasmere was a book I looked forward to eagerly.

It’s set in the early days of the Second World War in the beautiful and dramatic (and potentially dangerous) Lake District, that corner of England made green and pleasant by an over-abundance of rain. (Yes, I’ve holidayed there!) The book opens in the summer of 1940 on the day of Tarn’s brother’s memorial service. It’s a memorial rather than a funeral as Joss was one of the casualties of the British Army’s retreat from Dunkirk, drowned, it is assumed, in the English Channel. The Tarn we meet is angry and grieving; angry as she is forbidden attendance at the service on account of her gender, and grieving for life as she has known it with her beloved older brother.

The aftermath of Dunkirk has made invasion feel inevitable and the tension of waiting for that practically certain development can be felt in the main characters, young as they are. Tarn’s lifelong friend Peter is fixated on the war and he bombards Tarn with the news he gleans of its progress. But it is Eric, recently evacuated to Peter’s family’s farm from the streets of Manchester, who has the real understanding of war at home.

Into this atmosphere of controlled fear steps an angel. Or, at least, steps an unknown Good Samaritan dubbed the angel of Grasmere. All manner of small (and not-so-small) gifts are bestowed on the village. A mended haycutter. Gifts of fish left in the Church. Some sheep rescued from a sudden snowstorm. And ultimately Peter’s father’s life saved after an accident. The so-called angel brings hope to the community and a glimmer of optimism – and his sudden departure disheartens.

With the spring, the angel returns and is revealed to be completely human. The manner of his return is dramatic and has far-reaching consequences, not least for the erstwhile angel.

I held on to this book for a long time before reading it, partly because I knew I wanted to blog about it for Remembrance, and partly to savour the anticipation of reading a new Tom Palmer. I’m happy to report that it repaid the waiting. Reading it as an adult, rather than as one of its target audience, some aspects of the plot were clearer to me than they might be for the latter group. But that in no way diminished my enjoyment. I found the elements dealing with the Dunkirk evacuation particularly thought-provoking.

Angel of Grasmere is published by Barrington Stoke and illustrated by Tom Clohosy Cole with a map drawn by James Innerdale. I commend it to you.