-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Natasha Farrant
The second sensational middle-grade standalone that follows an epic voyage from England to France in the aftermath of WW1, from the bestselling author of The Children of Castle Rock.
In the aftermath of World War One, everyone is trying to rebuild their lives. If Ben is to avoid being sent back to the orphanage, he needs to find his brother Sam, wounded in action and is now missing. Lotti's horrible aunt and uncle want to send her away to boarding-school (when she has just so successfully managed to get expelled from her last one!) And Clara, their young teacher, is waiting for news of her missing fianc.Just as they think they've found their feet in the new order, disaster strikes, and Lotti and Ben must get away. And so they hatch a plan - to cross the Channel on Ben's narrowboat and find Sam. And there's something in France that Lotti is looking for, too... Buffeted by storms, chased by the police, Lotti, Ben, Clara and a growing number of dogs set out on an epic journey, on the search for lost loved ones and a place to call home.
Costa Book Awards, 2020
"One of the most compelling, joyous, tearjerking and delightful reads of the year." - The Sunday Times, Children's Book of the Week
"Magnificent odyssey ... a rich and rewarding read ... it deserves prizes." - New Statesman
"Heaven sent out of a blue sky, it blew me far away on a wonderful adventure, and for a blissful while, I really was somewhere else." - Piers Torday, author of The Frozen Sea
"Empowering, rollicking, wistful and joyful." - Hilary McKay, author of The Skylarks' War
This information about Voyage of the Sparrowhawk was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Natasha Farrant has worked in children's publishing for almost twenty years, running her own literary scouting agency for the past ten. She grew up in London where she still lives with her husband and their two daughters. She is the author of the Carnegie-longlisted and Branford Boase-shortlisted YA historical novel The Things We Did For Love, as well as two successful adult novels. Natasha was shortlisted for the Queen of Teen Award 2014, and the second Bluebell Gadbsy book, Flora in Love, is longlisted for the Guardian Children's Prize.
If you liked Voyage of the Sparrowhawk, try these:
by Jess Walter
Published 2026
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins—and in the propulsive spirit of Charles Portis' True Grit—comes a hilarious, empathetic, and brilliantly provocative adventure through life in modern America, about a reclusive journalist forced back into the world to rescue his kidnapped grandchildren.
by Laura Spence-Ash
Published 2024
A sweeping, tenderhearted love story, Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash tells the story of two families living through World War II on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the shy, irresistible young woman who will call them both her own.
by Audrey Magee
Published 2023
In 1979, as violence erupts all over Ireland, two outsiders travel to a small island off the west coast in search of their own answers, despite what it may cost the islanders.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
