Alfie’s father has signed up for the war, leaving him and his mother, Margie, to fend for themselves. So Alfie discreetly works as a shoeshine boy at the railway, earning much, much needed money.

Then one day, he sees his father’s number (a number that is assigned when each man went to fight in the war) among the numbers and names of the newspaper. He is injured. Mentally. And Alfie must bring him home.

This was the first World War story I have read that did not seem to focus on the impacts of war and the fighting. It gave me different eyes to watch the story with. For that was what it was like, watching the story take place. The level of evocativeness was so high that it felt like I was watching a play. However, the climax was rather a let-down. The problem was not focused on enough. The characters were real and Alfie’s thoughts earlier on in his life were very amusing, the perfect perspective of a young child.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!