When Noel Bostock–aged ten, no family–is evacuated from London to escape the Nazi bombardment, he lands in a suburb northwest of the city with Vera Sedge–a thirty-six-year-old widow drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, she’s unscrupulous about how she gets it.

Eccentrically educated and raised with a disdain for authority, Noel has little in common with other children, and even less with the impulsive Vee, who hurtles from one self-made crisis to the next. The war’s provided unprecedented opportunities for making money, but what Vee needs is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she’s a disaster. With Noel, she’s a team.

Together, they cook up a scheme… .