title: Their Finest: A Novel
author:  Lissa Evans 
description: &#8220;A wry, semi-sweet tale.&#8221; (<em>Washington Post</em>)<br /><br />&#8220;The period details evoking London during the Blitz are masterfully done.&#8221; (<i>Library Journal</i>)<br /><br />&#8220;A beautifully written, minutely observed and researched, evocative and very funny tale.&#8221; (&lt;i&gt;Guardian&lt;/i&gt;, London)<br /><br />&#8220;This is a comic novel, but far warmer in tone and broader in scope than that label would suggest....Gloriously observed...Hilliard is a wonderful creation&#8212;and Evans&#8217;s recreated propaganda scripts are a total joy. Delicious.&#8221; (<i>Times</i> (London))<br /><br />&#8220;I try not to say, &#8216;If there&#8217;s one novel you should read this summer..&#8217; but <i>Crooked Heart</i> tempts me to say it.&#8221; (Scott Simon, NPR, on <i>Crooked Heart</i>)<br /><br />&#8220;Glorious. I loved every line of this book.&#8221; (Paula Hawkins, author of <i>The Girl on the Train</i>, on <i>Crooked Heart</i>)<br /><br />&#8220;In &#8216;Crooked Heart,&#8217; Lissa Evans&#8217;s absorbing and atmospheric comic novel, another quietly heroic orphan joins the canon&#8230;.This is a wonderfully old-fashioned Dickensian novel, with satisfying plot twists&#8230;.Both darkly funny and deeply touching&#8230;.It&#8217;s a crooked journey, straight to the heart.&#8221; (<i>New York Times Book Review</i> on <i>Crooked Heart</i>)<br /><br />&#8220;Beautifully written, minutely observed and researched, evocative and very funny tale.&#8221; (<i>Guardian</i> (London))<br /><br />&#8220;[Evans] displays a fine eye for detail and for the absurdities involved in filming. She also brilliantly evokes the disruption and dangers of wartime London. This funny, heart-warming and beautifully crafted novel is a must-read.&#8221; (<i>Daily Mail</i> (London))
zlib_text: Lissa Evans
  
  * * *
  
  V FOR VICTORY
  
  ![](Images/image00160.jpeg)
  
  Contents
  
    1. AUTUMN: 1944
    2. SPRING: 1945
    3. Acknowledgements
  
  About the Author
  
  Lissa Evans has written six novels, including the bestselling _Old Baggage_ ,
  _Crooked Heart_ (longlisted for the Baileys Prize) and _Their Finest Hour and
  a Half_ , which was filmed as _Their Finest_. Two of her books for children,
  _Small Change for Stuart_ and _Wed Wabbit_ , were shortlisted for the Carnegie
  Medal.
  
   _Also by Lissa Evans_
  
  NOVELS
  
  Spencer’s List
  
  Odd One Out
  
  Their Finest Hour and a Half
  
  (motion picture released as _Their Finest_ )
  
  Crooked Heart
  
  Old Baggage
  
  NOVELS FOR CHILDREN
  
  Small Change for Stuart
  
  Big Change for Stuart
  
  Wed Wabbit
  
  >  _For my friends Georgia Garrett and Bill Scott-Kerr_
  
  > ![](Images/image00157.jpeg)
  
  Autumn
  
  * * *
  
  1944
  
  Where _T. Allerdyce, Textbooks & Stationery_ should have been, there was
  nothing but a flight of stairs, silhouetted against a white sky. The air was
  full of grit, the rubble