Before CS The Bettanys on Home Front by Helen Barber

The Bettanys on the Home Front was first published by GGBP in 2015, to tie in with the 100th anniversary remembering the First World War.

    1914, and the Bettany family—fourteen year old twins Madge and Dick and their little sister Joey—are enjoying a seaside holiday with their guardian. But the news is disturbing and their happy time is cut short by the announcement that war has been declared.

   Back home in Taverton, Madge is faced with a rapidly changing world. With Guardian away on war business and Aunt Josie preoccupied with her own family, it falls to Madge to hold the household together without neglecting the all-important world of school and the challenge of a new form which seems to have no place for her. But what is Nanny’s mysterious secret, and is she a proper person to care for Joey?

   A secret society in the school attics, riots in the town, a shell-shocked clergyman and a new friend for Joey all play their part in this delightful school and family story.

   Helen is writing a brand-new short story to be included in this reprint. Readers may also like to know that she is working on a new book about Madge as Head Girl.

The Bettanys on the Home Front will be published in September / October