Goodnight Mister Tom

This made me bawl like a baby. During WW2, young Willie Beech, an evacuee is sent to live with Tom Oakley. Tom is a gruff rather solitary old man who has lived a solitary life since the death of his young wife and infant child many years ago. Willie is a sad, neglected child, covered in bruises from his mother's frequent discipline with a belt, and for the first time he finds out what it is like to be properly looked after by an adult. Tom comes out of him self too, and the two forge a strong bond. Then Willie's emotionally unstable mother calls him back to London, and something terrible happens - it's a very big plot spoiler, so I won't tell what it is, but I nearly could't see the page for tears.
Very highly recommended - but you will show more need tissues. show less

8-year-old Willie is one of the many London children evacuated to the countryside during WWII. He gets placed with the town curmudgeon, Mr. Tom, and thus a beautifully unlikely pair is born. Willie comes from a poverty-stricken part of London and has been physically and mentally abused by his mother. He's small and thin and weak; he's also far behind where he should be in school. But Mr. Tom, despite his gruff exterior (forged by his own tragic backstory), is all kindness and gentleness when it comes to caring for the boy, and Willie soon starts to thrive. He makes friends, finds confidence in himself, and learns that love isn't terrifying or painful. But then his mother writes that she wants him back home and both he and Mr. Tom have show more some heavy decisions to make.
Oh, but this is a lovely book. I have an absolute soft spot for Evacuated London Children stories, and this is one of the best. Not only is the relationship between Willie and Mr. Tom so very well crafted, but all the other members of the small country village have depth and their stories are lovingly told as well. It's a perfect mix of heartbreaking and happy-making without being at all saccharine. Highly recommended. show less

As an ardent anglophile, I loved this wartime novel -- the setting in a small town during WWII and the slow unfurling of the characters was just delightful. I read it, initially, because someone I know is annoyed at The War That Saved My Life, and feels that it was a bad knockoff of this book. I have to say that I liked them both, for different reasons, and while they share the major plotline of an abused child benefiting from the London evacuations, I think they are very different books. This one is for a more mature audience, and confronts worse things, I think, or at least, more extreme ones. Nonetheless, a lovely idyll about love and fresh air and kindness.

Wow... storia commovente e delicata, forse non epica, ma certamente scritta bene e coinvolgente.
Qualcuno potrebbe obiettare che si tratta di una storia buonista, troppo piena di buoni sentimenti a buon mercato, ma io l'ho letta davvero con piacere e lo rifarei subito.

Il libro racconta la storia di due debolezze che insieme diventano una grande forza e si aiutano a vicenda a superare i dolori e i dispiaceri della vita.
Da una parte un burbero vedovo che si isola da tutto e da tutti come un eremita fuori dalla società, incapace di lasciarsi alle spalle il suo lutto; dall'altra un ragazzino maltrattato ed abusato che non conosce il significato della parola "felicità" perché non l'ha mai provata nella sua vita.

E forse quel burbero vedovo show more e quel ragazzino triste avevano solo bisogno di incontrarsi per dare una svolta e un significato alle proprie vite ed è quello che accade a partire dal 1939 nella campagna intorno a Londra, dove i ragazzini della capitale venivano sfollati e affidati temporaneamente agli abitanti dei villaggi per salvarli dai bombardamenti nazisti sulla città.

Ma è anche un libro che racconta di un'amicizia adolescenziale, quell'amicizia vera e totalizzante, per quanto infantile o forse proprio per questo, che lascia segni profondi nell'anima dei protagonisti.
Dovendola definire, direi che è una storia di rinascita e di speranza e credo che sia impossibile non empatizzare con i personaggi di questo libro, a meno di avere un cuore di pietra.

Confesso che ultimamente sono un po' troppo propenso alle lacrime, ma non so proprio come si possa leggere questo libro senza versarne qualcuna (siete avvisati).
Però leggetelo, fa bene al cuore show less

William Beech is the only child of an abusive mother in London. When World War II breaks out, he is shipped out, as so many children were, to small towns in the countryside, where it was deemed safer. Tom Oakley is an elderly widower, virtually a hermit, who is assigned to house and care for William. As any reader would guess, Mr. Tom, as William calls him, is good for the boy, and caring for the boy is good for Mr. Tom.
William slowly loses his fears, instilled by his mother, and Mr. Oakley starts becoming part of the community again.
There are a couple of almost shocking chapters when William is sent back to London to be with his mother for a spell, and the reader will be glad when those chapters are past. (It turns out his mother is show more even worse than we imagined at the beginning of the book.)
The story is well told, and filled with appealing characters in the town of Little Weirwold. The only real drawback, is Magorian didn't seem to know how to wrap up the story. The final couple of chapters seem a little apart from the rest of the rest of the story, meandering off in a different direction, now that we know where William and Mr. Oakley end up. The last sentence seems like it's supposed to be a definitive moment defining the theme of the book, but doesn't really seem to represent much of anything the book was about.
All in all, excellent book; I recommend it. But the conclusion does fall a little flat. show less

I read this book for the first time when I was in Form 3 at school. It was part of our curriculum, and the book stayed with me for a very long time after reading it for the first time. I think it was the first book I read that depicted child abuse in writing, that didn’t shy away from difficult topics. It probably introduced me to a world of more adult fiction, even though it was essentially a book written for children. The fact that the book plays with reality so well really has helped it leave a special place in my heart, not least because it was also probably the first book I ever enjoyed studying while reading.
Goodnight Mister Tom is about the unlikely friendship, bond and love that forms between a wizened, bitter old man who show more lives in the country, and the little boy from London who is evacuated and brought to live with him. Tom, a man who has become embittered with age, especially after the death of his wife and baby boy, reluctantly takes upon the responsibility of looking after Willie, but very quickly realizes that the boy has never known a loving relationship from a parent, and soon starts to open up and become warmer to people in general while showing Willie what true paternal love is.
The book deals with so many different themes – war, death, the love between family members, chosen family, loss, change, child abuse, puberty, education. The list goes on and on. The book manages to fit so many different topics in without feeling like it’s trying to be preachy or trying to make a statement. It is a book that is, quite simply, explaining the reality of a situation in a small village during World War Two, with the addition of a wonderful cast of characters that really lend themselves to the story.
I don’t want to spoil how the story plays out, or how it tears at your heartstrings in ways that you didn’t think possible. I will say that it is a happy ending, and it is a wonderful book for people of all ages to read. It is, actually, a wonderful book for children aged twelve and up, children who can identify with the main characters and who are probably learning about the world wars in their history classes at school. If anybody is curious about war fiction and doesn’t know where to start, this book is probably a very safe bet.
Final rating: 5/5 stars. A wonderful read and a nice quick one too (I recall finishing it in about two days). show less

When the Luftwaffe bombs start to become a threat in London, children are evacuated to the English countryside. Among those children sent away from home for their safety is William Beech, who ends up billeted with solitary widower, Tom Oakley.

William has come from an abusive home, and has learnt to be a quiet, unobtrusive boy in order to avoid his mother’s belt. Tom’s solid common sense, gruff kindness and quiet understanding are exactly what Will needs to help build his confidence and realise what a normal childhood should be. The local children and villagers become friends, and for the first time Will becomes part of a community. Meanwhile Tom relearns what it is to have energy and life return to his cottage, something he’d show more lost after the death of his wife and newborn son years earlier.

This is ultimately a heart warming read, but it has an underlying darkness. Will’s unstable mother and the abuse he suffers at her hands are briefly highlighted in sparse detail, but the psychological effects in particular are at the core of this story.

While this if historical fiction, the historic details are not the focus for Magorian, but they have been skillfully inserted into the story and help to create an understated sense of place and atmosphere.

Goodnight Mister Tom is insightful and moving, where the bond forged between boy and man allows both to start living life again. show less