More Meg Rosoff (and more asters!)

I've just re-read Meg Rosoff's first novel, How I Live Now. Daisy, a troubled fifteen year old from New York, spends an idyllic summer with her English cousins in their rambling old farmhouse with its pebbled courtyard, stables and raised square garden containing only white flowers and a stone angel with folded wings. However, England is descending into war, the cousins are evacuated and Daisy becomes responsible for the safety and well-being of her nine-year old cousin Piper. When the two girls have to live in the woods for a week surviving on nuts, berries, and accidentally eating mushrooms which make them hallucinate the story is utterly gripping.

This is no portrayal of a quaint England. It's tough, straight-talking and at times terrifying, but an exhilarating read and a beautiful novel.