Bookwitch

I love Michelle Magorian’s books, and her new one after an exceedingly long ten years doesn’t disappoint. Just Henry continues in the same vein as Michelle’s earlier books. It’s post-war, 1949, and it’s set in the world of cinema goers.

14-year-old Henry is in his last year at school, and lives with his mother and stepfather and his little sister Molly, and his gran. It’s a house fraught with bitter disagreement, added to which you have post-war rationing and hours of queueing. There’s also the added complication of popular prejudice in those days, which is hard to understand now.

Henry’s salvation lies within the cinema. He goes several times a week, which might seem extravagant by today’s measures, but then they didn’t have television or computers. Even the radio is seen as a luxury. Through his massive interest in films, Henry makes new friends, which is lucky for him, as he soon stumbles across a mystery, which threatens to tear apart life as he knows it. He needs his new friends.

There’s a fascinating background of popular films and the history of film making, and it’s a wonderful story about woman power. The fairy godmother character in the book teaches Henry to look for diamonds in dungheaps, and there’s plenty of dung before the story ends. It’s quite a nice way of looking at things, I feel, and more people should look for diamonds. Daily, if necessary.

And I really, really don’t feel up to waiting another ten years for another book from Michelle.