Before The Last All Clear is the memoir of Ray Evans, a child evacuee during WWII.
A sad and tragic tale, Ray talks about how the school sends him and his brothers and sisters home with a letter about all children and women to be evacuated immediately and the must always carry a gas mask.
This is the time that air raids happened all of the time, and although Ray's parents knew the children were going to be split up, it didn't happen as they had anticipated.
Ray is sent to many different homes and as a young boy, it impacted his life greatly. The foster families were not always kind, and some were downright cruel. Ray speaks about his struggle and his personal goal to survive with candid aplomb. He eventually does find a loving family but it takes years and what he had been through prior to that home will live in his memories forever.
Before The Last All Clear is a birds-eye view of wartime Britain through the eyes of a young boy. Heartrending, horrific and yet written in such a clear cut way as to enlighten the reader. Details of the nauseating turmoil that the people had to endure is only a backdrop to Ray's personal story. What he experienced would probably mentally break a majority of people. Ray sought that light and endured. A truly remarkable novel.
A sad and tragic tale, Ray talks about how the school sends him and his brothers and sisters home with a letter about all children and women to be evacuated immediately and the must always carry a gas mask.
This is the time that air raids happened all of the time, and although Ray's parents knew the children were going to be split up, it didn't happen as they had anticipated.
Ray is sent to many different homes and as a young boy, it impacted his life greatly. The foster families were not always kind, and some were downright cruel. Ray speaks about his struggle and his personal goal to survive with candid aplomb. He eventually does find a loving family but it takes years and what he had been through prior to that home will live in his memories forever.
Before The Last All Clear is a birds-eye view of wartime Britain through the eyes of a young boy. Heartrending, horrific and yet written in such a clear cut way as to enlighten the reader. Details of the nauseating turmoil that the people had to endure is only a backdrop to Ray's personal story. What he experienced would probably mentally break a majority of people. Ray sought that light and endured. A truly remarkable novel.
