Monique Charlesworth has lived in France and Germany; she is fluent in both languages. Elements of THE CHILDREN’S WAR are drawn from her own family history. The author of three previous novels, she has been writing for film and television for the past decade. She lives with her husband and two children in London.

‘An intensely moving story.’ Daily Telegraph‘Breathlessly suspenseful . . . Charlesworth uses two apparent opposites—a timid, sensitive Nazi boy, a bold, red-headed Jewish girl—as a way of exploring what good people have in common and how innocents learn to be decent in a world swarming with evil. She moves her story through fast, terrifying intricacies of plot: journeys, battles, smuggled papers, love affairs, carefully calculated loyalties, heroic sacrifices and endless duplicity . . . Charlesworth’s greatest success is to show how these children grow into morally mature adults, learning about treachery not just by seeing it around them, but by making difficult and sometimes terrible choices themselves . . . Engrossing.’ Polly Shulman, New York Times Book Review‘Tender, shocking and beautifully written, The Children’s War marks Monique Charlesworth as a major talent.’ Image