The Valley of Lost Secrets

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.

  Emma Carroll, author of Letters from the Lighthouse

• 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

  Liz Hyder, author of Bearmouth

• An evacuee story with all the makings of a classic.

  Anna Fargher, author of The Umbrella Mouse

• 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.

  Nizrana Farook, author of The Girl Who Stole an Elephant

• A gripping mystery, overflowing with heart – The Valley of Lost Secrets is one of the very best books I’ve read this year.

  Carlie Sorosiak, author of I, Cosmo

• What a wonderful book. A brilliant debut – warm and tender, simple in the best way, historical fiction with a light touch.

  Ross Montgomery, author of The Midnight Guardians

• 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.

  Guardian

• 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.

  Sophie Kirtley, author of The Wild Way Home

• 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.

  Julia Green, author of The Children of Swallow Fell

• 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+.

  Fleur Hitchcock, author of The Boy Who Flew

• 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.

  AM Howell, author of The Garden of Lost Secrets

• An unforgettable story that already feels like a classic. Has fast become one of my all-time favourites. Every school should read this.

  Juliette Forest, author of Twister

• A great book. A real gripping, engaging story, with a nice heart of darkness.

  A.F. Harrold, author of The Imaginary

• 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.

  Eloise Williams, Children's Laureate Wales

• 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

  Book Lover Jo

• Lesley Parr is an outstanding new voice in children’s literature and definitely one to look out for!

  Snaily Can Fly

• A stunning novel about evacuation, hardship, challenging times and the strengths and weaknesses of human behaviour

  The Breadcrumb Forest

• 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.

  Claire Fayers, author of The Accidental Pirates

• A thrilling and touching story about change, family, and friendship

  Libraries4schools

• An absolutely outstanding book – I was gripped from the first page until the last

  Educator, NetGalley Reviewer

• Beautifully told. This appealing book is about losses healed, lies uncovered, cruelty defeated and goodness rewarded.

  The Sunday Times

• a beautifully told novel … This appealing book is about losses healed, lies uncovered, cruelty defeated and goodness rewarded

  Children's Book of the Week, The Sunday Times

• An exciting adventure… no wonder this mystery about bravery and brotherhood is Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month

  Press Association

• A wonderfully warm book

  Books for Topics

• 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

  Books For Keeps

• The Valley of Lost Secrets is the much-acclaimed debut by Lesley Parr

  Make the last lockdown fly by, Daily Telegraph

• 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

  Books We Love, BookTrust

• 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

  Irish Independent

• 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.

  Hilary McKay