Angel of Grasmere

The Angel of Grasmere is a historical fiction novel based in a small town in the British Lake District with the name of Grasmere. It focuses on an 11 year old girl, Tarn, who tries to navigate the difficulties caused by the terrible conflict of World War II.
We get to read about the growth and development our protagonist undergoes, and the challenges she must overcome. We smile as Tarn meets new companions and acquaintances, we scowl as her friend is forced to endure discrimination simply for being from another city, and we cry as she has a heartfelt and emotional reunion with her brother.
The snippets of the horrific battle of Dunkirk narrated by a soldier who was forced to endure it also helped me broaden my horizons in WW2 history, and it truly made me feel genuine sympathy and sadness towards Tarn’s brother. The fact that men who fled were shamed and insulted after being forced to experience such trauma just goes to show that these soldiers, who were forced to kill others and live with the lifelong guilt were also human beings with hearts, minds and souls.
However, at times I felt as if we didn’t know enough about our character’s personality, and the way the book was written sometimes masked our character’s identity.
All in all, I absolutely loved this book, and it made me think about the difficulties that people had to face all across the globe, although I feel like some of our characters had a lot of unused potential. It truly shines a light on the atrocities that soldiers had to endure.
– Ayla, Year 9, Millthorpe School

Angel of Grasmere is a beautiful story set during the second world war in the rural Lake District. It follows a girl called Tarn coping with the loss of her brother and the thought that her best friend Peter may be lost as well since he has become friends with Eric, a refugee from Manchester. Then, mysterious good deeds begin occurring around the village with only one explanation as to who was behind it: the Angel of Grasmere.
One thing I enjoyed about this book was the descriptions. They really brought the pages to life as I imagined the miles and miles of hills and tarns around me. It brought a spark to the book that made it magical.
However, something that I think could be improved was the plot. It was mainly the final plot twist that left me dissatisfied because it felt very obvious and predictable and lacked an element of suspense. It just felt like I already knew what was going to happen halfway through the book and that spoiled part of the experience for me.
Overall, it was a nice book that I enjoyed reading but I would not pick it back up and reread it.
– Molly W., All Saints Catholic School

I loved this book so much! It was wonderfully written, and kept me tense or worried throughout Tarn’s journey. I also think it flowed very easily. 
My favourite character was probably Eric: he was extraordinarily brave throughout the whole book, and stood up to Dennis.
My favourite part in the story is when the two Hurricanes crash into the hillside. Even though the pilots were dead, it allowed Joss to reveal himself to his sister. I think this was a good development for the characters and the story. Tarn was overwhelmed with sadness and grief, and Joss was overwhelmed with disbelief in himself – thinking he was a coward. When the two characters meet, they are consumed by love for one another – and I think this a sensational ending to the book.
– Henry M., All Saints Catholic School

Angel of Grasmere was written by Tom Palmer and is something of a jewel in the world of literature.
The story is based after the “Tragedy Of Dunkirk”, a catastrophic event which occurred in World War II. It’s based on the unique life story of a small girl, with the name Tarn. After her brother is reported dead, her feelings kick in and her life is a tragedy.
To interrupt her thoughts, she scours and searches the mountain with her friends to search for the upcoming and dreaded Nazi attack, which has been terrorising other cities in England. While living in fear of the Nazis upcoming attack, an unknown person starts committing positive deeds in the town, saving lives and helping them. Then, one day, the stranger appears…Tarn’s brother.
This heartwarming story fills you with fear, anger and even sadness and it feels like you’re right next to Tarn the whole way through. I couldn’t stop reading it!
I found that it was quite medium in length, not too short and not too long, and is a good length for beginners of about 10 or up, in my opinion. It struck me from the
start, and made me feel deeper about those who were affected by the war, and is frightening, yet that only edges you on, reading deeper into the history and war of a wartime world.
It starts off as a gentle introduction, yet its most exciting point is one of the most engaging and exciting climaxes ever, and really explains what’s going on. My only criticism would be the predictability of the plots, as you can see her brother is “The Angel” quite early on. Other than this, it is a beautiful book which blew my wind in
ways I didn’t know were possible.
Tarn is an unsung young girl, who is shy yet curious and sees the world differently. You feel you can relate to her everyday life, so it was interesting on more than one
level.
I am very glad that he wrote that book, because I missed it before I’d read it.
– Manor CE Academy

Angel of Grasmere was written by Tom Palmer and is based in 1940-1942 during World War II. The story is based after the Tragedy of Dunkirk, an event which lost France during WW2. It is based in the perspective of Tarn, an 11 year old girl who when her brother is reported “dead”, after that her friend Peter and Eric “a Manchester evacuee” try to search for the incoming German invasion. But around Grasmere random good deeds begin happening. Almost every other chapter you get to read the perspective of the man doing the deeds. My favourite part is when the man’s identity is revealed.
– Manor CE Academy

I thought it was very inspirational and showed
WW2 well. I loved it so much I read it in 3 days and couldn’t put it down. It showed normal life, but with a hint of adventure and war.
The author was very good at using powerful words and adjectives and I loved the mystery of the “man” and how Tarn and his lives were different since Dunkirk. It was beautiful that Tarn missed her brother and thought of times together with him that helped he through the struggles of life what with WW2, school exams
and losing her friends.
The plot was amazing and I just love WW2
novels so this book was definitely for me.
Even though I wouldn’t probably have chosen to
read it out of choice form the library, I’m glad I
did and would give it again 4.8/5
– Manor CE Academy

I really enjoyed Angel of Grasmere because I liked that by the first page I was already engaged in the story. This was because, as I started reading, I felt interested as a mystery occurred at the start of the story and that feeling was there until I finished the book.
The story starts with the main character, Tarn, losing her brother in World War Two and as her friends look out for Nazi invasion, a mysterious stranger is helping her local community and creating miracles in all sorts of ways.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone, child, teen or adult, as it was easy to follow and understand.
– Louisa, Year 8, The Joseph Rowntree School

Tarn’s brother, Joss, has died in the retreat from Dunkirk. Tarn finds her retreat from the world in the fells. Her best friend, Peter, talks of war and adventure constantly. However, this doesn’t raise Tarn’s mood along with the fact that her friend is being stolen from her by an evacuee named Eric. However an anonymous ‘angel’ has been helping the village with tasks.
This is a lovely sweet book and the settings are so vivid.
However, even at the beginning, it is quite obvious who the angel is. But it is a very sweet story, and you feel such a sense of elation at the end with the plot twist.
– Imogen, Year 7, St Peter’s 8-13

I loved this book! Firstly, I loved all the characters. Tarn was such a great character and I loved her adventurous side as it brought excitement to the story. Eric and Peter were a great addition to the story, bringing more drama and fun. Of course, you can’t forget Joss, the man who thinks himself a coward. The things he did to help the village really made me think about the good things I could do to help. At some points, I felt scared for the children and at others, I felt happy and fulfilled. I think the story is very well written. I think that the two-point perspective of Tarn and Joss was very creative. I was very surprised when Dennis revealed Joss’s secret after he saved him. Altogether, this book was amazing and I would recommend.
– Edith, Year 7, The Joseph Rowntree School

Angel of Grasmere is a short novel by Tom Palmer set in the Second World War. It was about a child called Tarn who’s brother, Joss, supposedly died in the D-day landings. The story starts in the fells of Grasmere 1940 with Tarn and her two friends Eric and Peter. Over the course of the story a mysterious figure is seen in the fells where Tarn and her friends live and strange acts of kindness are seen in the town and no one admits to them. Rumours start going around that the town has their own Guardian Angel of Grasmere. No one knows that the angel is Tarn’s brother Joss who had deserted after D-day and had hid in the fells thinking himself a coward. 
The actual storyline covers about two and a half years from 1940 – 1943 and culminates in Tarn being reunited with her brother after being found. 
However Joss is still scarred by the horrors of war; suffering PTSD and scared of planes and trucks. This is how many soldiers felt during the second world war and this novel portrays it brilliantly in a highly exciting novel.
I absolutely loved reading this book and would highly recommend to anyone who likes reading.
– Manor CE Academy

I enjoyed reading this book quite a lot. I liked the aspect of it being set during the war as well as their being two characters perspectives but one is hidden until further on in the story. The author (Tom Palmer) is able to show part of the characters personality as well as hiding it for an element of mystery. This book shows the views of a soldier too scared to fight in war when he is afraid of being called a coward or being sent back again. The end contains a heartwarming reunion between the main character (Tarn) and her Brother (Joss).
– Catherine, Year 8, Millthorpe School

Angel of Grasmere is a lovely historical fiction set in the gorgeous and dramatic scenes of the Lake District.
The story follows Tarn, a young girl struggling to come to terms with her brother’s death and the looming prospect of the invasion of Britain. Woven through this is the story of a young man’s journey to recovery from shell shock.
The beautifully described views of the Lake District contrast starkly with the brutal and horrific scenes the young man relives. In an attempt to shake off the guilt of being a deserter, the man decides to help the scared citizens of Grasmere. These kind acts lead to the man being named the anonymous Angel of Grasmere – a title which readers feel he deserves. 
The two narratives tying together at the end may not surprise readers, but is beautifully told as the young man (Joss) is revealed to be Tarn’s lost brother.
This wonderful tale of healing and re-discovering was a delight to read. I loved it!
– Rose T., All Saints Catholic School

For me, this book is truly inspiring. After I had finished the very last page, I felt disappointed – I wanted more! Tom Palmer is a fantastic author, and this book shows it. I felt a mixture of emotions whilst reading Angel of Grasmere: good, bad, some even unknown. I think that people of all ages will enjoy this book.
I finished this book extremely quickly, but I know the storyline. Whilst reading this, I actually felt as though I was Tarn – grief for Joss, love for Peter, shock at the plane crash.
Overall, I think this book is a spectacular read and anyone of any age would enjoy it as much as I did.
– Charlotte M., All Saints Catholic School

Angel of Grasmere is about a young girl (Tarn) dealing with the war. It begins in the moors where lots of the main events are set. She is angry and crying because her brother has died and the funeral is boys only. Tarn has one best friend Peter, who is a kind character and very good at identifying planes.
Tarn and Peter have a strong bond through out the book although sometimes stretched by their new refugee friend Eric. Eric is a shy boy an doesn’t know much abut the countryside. The people of Grasmere have a something wrong with Manchester, the place Eric comes from. Eric lives on Peter’s farm and becomes closer with Peter after a huge incident.
The book all circles around one mysterious figure. The “Angel of Grasmere” is a complete mystery to the town: he seems to manage to fix everything but still remain undetected. Is everything about him as it seems or is there a hidden meaning…
– Rory, Year 7, St Peter’s 8-13

Characters:
I found that most of the characters in Angel of Grasmere were fairly lacklustre. Tarn is bland and a typical ‘strong-willed character’ and by that I mean they open with her screaming and shouting in a churchyard that they won’t let her in.
Peter is an emotionless shoulder to cry on for Tarn (also why is the male lead in a WWII novel always called Peter?).
Eric at least has realistic emotions and acts naturally for most of the novel, until Dennis comes round and Eric becomes an emotionless tank of steel who just doesn’t seem to care whether or not he breaks a knee.
Joss is genuinely complex and compelling and I like that he’s not a twist character and you know it’s him early on. It’s a massive missed opportunity to have the entire book be from his perspective – seeing the life of a traumatised war deserter struggling to tell his family about his actions.
I find the real fault in this book is that the characters have none of the things that make a character enjoyable – a flaw, a misbelief and a goal. Why are they doing this?
Tarn doesn’t have any complexity – she’s sad about Joss but only when there’s nothing else to do and she wants to explore the world with Peter but her motive seems to have nothing to do with how she actually acts.
Dennis serves no actual purpose to the plot except to 1. destroy that glimmer of hope that these creatures are actual human beings, 2. showcase Tarn beating people half to death because we respect that in a character, apparently and 3. please the people that want every story to be the exact same and unfortunately, that includes a stale archetype that makes every reader cringe when they do something like try to push the characters over for laughs or steal their lunch money. It also forces the characters to be ‘strong’ when there are literal buildings catching on fire and planes blowing up and causing death and destruction. They also teased a sob story for him (which is kinda ironic if you get what I mean) but then never elaborate. I’m sorry, you cannot point at Dennis stealing lead piping so a school floods or laughing at the prospect of a young boy’s family being blown up, and say that he’s just a broken man.
Plot:
There isn’t really one, to be honest. That isn’t a criticism, it’s just character driven.
Emotions:
This is pretty much covered in the ‘characters’ section.
Prose:
The prose in the narrative segments is pretty well done – simple and efficient. I’m not saying all the prose needs to be like this – it can be as poetic, personal and chatty as long as it’s not pretty prose and it fits the theme of the story you’re writing about. Unfortunately, the dialogue in this book is awful. People speak like they’re facing a camera and telling people information. There’s one moment that made me actually laugh when Peter says “do you want me to remind you of the plan?” and at the end Tarn literally says “yes, that’s still the plan.”
Overall, the dialogue is sloppy and Tarn has no voice whatsoever.
– Micah, All Saints Catholic School

I think that the Angel of Grasmere was very informative and very educational about evacuees and war-time life. The characters explored the town of Grasmere in the Lake District.
I would definitely recommend this book for people who are learning about the World Wars.
I would definitely give it a 5-star rating if I was a book critic.
– Manor CE Academy

Angel of Grasmere is a short novella set in Cumbria that clearly demonstrates values of war loss and generosity. Written for younger people Angel of Grasmere follows Tarn Fathergill – a young girl from Grasmere who enjoys climbing the fells and reading Dorothy Wordsworth; and the Angel of Grasmere, a mysterious individual who is known for their acts of kindness but unknown in in name and face.
Grasmere is a well known village in the Lake District and in this case houses a number of likeable as well as unlikeable characters mostly from agrarian backgrounds, but when anonymous acts of generosity begin in a place where everyone knows everyone else people start to wonder who is causing them and why they are keeping it a secret.
The time period is an important aspect to note as it is set during the second world war which Palmer is quite used to writing about as it allows him to focus on a marginalised group which people shunned and disrespected without consequence. This is the message that he is trying to convey – there is no shame in fear of death – and I agree that fear is the only reaction to conflict and am impressed at how he puts across such a powerful message with so little words.
Some of the older students may have had the pleasure of meeting Palmer as he visited some of the York schools on the publication of Resist. I myself have and this caused me to read a number of his other books which all represent his skilled penmanship and though it lacks length and florid vocabulary this allows Palmer to appeal to a larger audience to bring about change through information.
– Matthew, Millthorpe School

Angel of Grasmere is a book about a girl, Tarn, and her Brother, Joss. It touches on the experience of young soldiers in Dunkirk, and the effects of loss on families.
Joss has frequent flashbacks to his time in Dunkirk, and is scared to admit to his family that he left the army, which would be viewed as deserting by the military. He hides in the hills around his town, helping around without giving away his identity. He anonymously does tasks such as fixing roofs, leading to the town people labelling him the “Angel of Grasmere”.
Tarn and her friends are civilians in the war, and have to learn to deal with the war, and how close it is getting to home.
I enjoyed the book thoroughly. It had a great storyline, while also doing a brilliant job of focusing on the more delicate subjects the writer touches on. Its ending was a good one, but what I liked about it was that it was realistic. It didn’t try to hide what happened to Joss, but it simultaneously gave you a satisfactory conclusion. Overall, I think it was a well written book, one which I would recommend to people of all ages.
– Volkan, Millthorpe School