Tracy Chevalier

A poor seventeenth-century servant girl knows her place in the household of the painter Johannes Vermeer, but when he begins to paint her, nasty whispers and rumors circulate throughout the town.

1932. After the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiance, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to a life of spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a life spent caring for her grieving, embittered mother. After countless meals of boiled eggs and dry toast, she saves enough to move out of her mother's place and into the town of Winchester, home to...

Ella Turner does her best to fit in to the small, close-knit community of Lisle-sur-Tarn. She even changes her name back to Tournier, and learns French. In vain. Isolated and lonely, she is drawn to investigate her Tournier ancestry, which leads to her encounter with the town's wolfish librarian. Isabelle du Moulin, known as Le Rousse due to her fiery red hair, is tormented and shunned in the village suspected of witchcraft and reviled for her association...

Starting his fifth school in five years, Osei Kokote, a diplomat's son, hoping to survive his first day becomes friends with Dee, the most popular girl in school, but Ian is determined to destroy the budding friendship. 1970s, in a suburban D.C. schoolyard. Starting his fifth school in five years, Osei Kokote, a diplomat's son, hopes to survive his first day. He becomes friends with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student, Ian, is determined...

In this collection, writers draw on personal objects to bring the First World War to life. Contributors include David Almond, John Boyne, Tracy Chevalier, Michael Morpurgo, and Marcus Sedgwick. The texts contain descriptions of war violence.