The Valley of Lost Secrets
- Author Lesley Parr
- Narrator Iestyn Arwel
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date 1 January 2021
- Run Time 4 hours and 57 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Crime and mystery fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Military and war fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Relationship stories – Romance, love or friendship, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Boys and men, Children’s / Teenage social issues: War and conflict issues.
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What to expect
Bloomsbury presents The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr, read by Iestyn Arwel.
A page-turning mystery about bravery and brotherhood among evacuees in the Second World War, from an prize-winning author.
September 1939.
When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn’t be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place.
But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed.
Finding an ally in someone he never expects, they set out together to uncover the secrets that lie with the skull. What they discover will change Jimmy – and the village – forever.
A perfect book for readers of 9 and over who love Michael Morpurgo's stories.
'Beautifully told. This appealing book is about losses healed, lies uncovered, cruelty defeated and goodness rewarded' – The Sunday Times
A page-turning mystery about bravery and brotherhood among evacuees in the Second World War, from an prize-winning author.
September 1939.
When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn’t be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place.
But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed.
Finding an ally in someone he never expects, they set out together to uncover the secrets that lie with the skull. What they discover will change Jimmy – and the village – forever.
A perfect book for readers of 9 and over who love Michael Morpurgo's stories.
'Beautifully told. This appealing book is about losses healed, lies uncovered, cruelty defeated and goodness rewarded' – The Sunday Times
Critics Review
With echoes of Carrie's War, and Goodnight Mister Tom, Parr brings her own fresh voice to what already feels like a wartime classic. This story is quietly brutal and brilliantly heartfelt. I absolutely ADORED it.
Evocative and heartfelt, The Valley of Lost Secrets already reads like a classic. A celebration of kindness and friendship at a time of upheaval, it's gripping, heart-breaking and yet full of hope. I loved it with all my heart
An evacuee story with all the makings of a classic.
A story of friendship, love, loss and belonging; of looking at people deep past their exterior, and of the love and pain in a human heart. There’s a cracking mystery at the centre of it, but it was the Welsh backdrop and Jimmy’s journey to acceptance that stayed in my heart long after I’d closed the book.
A gripping mystery, overflowing with heart – The Valley of Lost Secrets is one of the very best books I’ve read this year.
What a wonderful book. A brilliant debut – warm and tender, simple in the best way, historical fiction with a light touch.
Lesley Parr’s The Valley of Lost Secrets (Bloomsbury), follows Jimmy in wartime, evacuated with his brother to a Welsh mining village, as he slowly acclimatises to his new surroundings. But when Jimmy finds a hidden skull, he unearths a secret that has haunted the community for years. Atmospheric, direct and gripping, with a superbly assured narrative voice, this book is woven through with powerful themes: grief, belonging and making peace with the past.
An absolute triumph of warm, tender-hearted, timeless storytelling – Lesley Parr has created a story that feels like it has always been here… and one that I'm sure will still continue to be read many years from now.
The Valley of Lost Secrets vividly evokes the uncomfortable reality of being an evacuee in a new place very different from home, as experienced by 12- year-old Jimmy. This warm, sensitive story celebrates the Welsh community at its heart, but also shows the complexities of living in a small mining town where everyone knows everyone else. I particularly loved the way Lesley describes the landscape and its people. The story moves along at a compelling pace, the historical background is lightly touched in, the characters are memorable. And the ending is truly satisfying.
Beautifully written, this story of two brothers from London struggling with homesickness and the mysteries of their new surroundings is one of the best books I've read this year. Human, warm, funny, thrilling, and above all, compelling, The Valley of Lost Secrets leads the reader effortlessly into a convincing world of wartime Wales. We follow Jimmy as he makes sense of his new surroundings and uncovers a secret that relates to the lovely couple who have taken him and his little brother into their home. Along the way, he has to deal with new realities that challenge all the things he thought he knew. Friends that become foes, and old foes that become friends. I massively recommend this for ages 9+.
The Valley of Lost Secrets is a heartfelt story set in WW2. It’s a perfectly woven mystery but so much more than that. It’s about families torn apart, sometimes for the better as well as the worse, and a mining community determined to do their best by the evacuees. The ending brought a tear to my eye! This is historical fiction at its finest.
An unforgettable story that already feels like a classic. Has fast become one of my all-time favourites. Every school should read this.
A great book. A real gripping, engaging story, with a nice heart of darkness.
A beautiful, touching, emotional, warm and captivating story. Like a cwtch in a book. Timeless and powerful, The Valley of Lost Secrets has future classic written all over it.
It’s very rare that I read a debut that completely steals my heart away but Lesley Parr’s, ‘The Valley of Lost Secrets,’ is one of these unique finds… A truly extraordinary and accomplished debut which is destined to become a future classic
Lesley Parr is an outstanding new voice in children’s literature and definitely one to look out for!
A stunning novel about evacuation, hardship, challenging times and the strengths and weaknesses of human behaviour
The Valley of Lost Secrets is a wonderful evocation of wartime Wales. There's great warmth in the portrayal of the main characters, but the author doesn't gloss over the harsh realities of life at the time. The result is a mixture of light and dark, joy and sadness. An unforgettable read.
A thrilling and touching story about change, family, and friendship
An absolutely outstanding book - I was gripped from the first page until the last
Beautifully told. This appealing book is about losses healed, lies uncovered, cruelty defeated and goodness rewarded.
a beautifully told novel ... This appealing book is about losses healed, lies uncovered, cruelty defeated and goodness rewarded
An exciting adventure… no wonder this mystery about bravery and brotherhood is Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month
A wonderfully warm book
This is a book about the strength of sibling bonds and having the courage to stand up for honesty and truth. With strong characters, a touch of humour and a mystery to solve this is a wonderfully heartfelt and atmospheric story that will stay long in the mind. A satisfying and welcome addition to the canon of WW2 literature for children
The Valley of Lost Secrets is the much-acclaimed debut by Lesley Parr
This beautiful book, reminiscent of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five stories and Michelle Magorian's Goodnight Mister Tom, explores so many heartfelt themes ... The mystery of the skull has a brilliant pay-off, and there are enough red herrings thrown in to keep you guessing until the very end
Wales works its magic on the at first rather spiky Jimmy — and the reader — and the setting is so strong it almost becomes another character in this compelling story. Full of heart and kindness, this is historical middle-grade fiction at its best and I cannot recommend it highly enough
This WW2 story of evacuees and Welsh valley communities has an immediate feel of familiarity. The characterisation is so warm, the setting so real, it could be Philippa Pearce, or Nina Bawden, but instead it’s Lesley Parr and a brand new instant classic.
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