Just Henry
by Michelle Magorian
A new book from Michelle Magorian after ten years is cause for celebration. Just Henry fulfils all expectations a reader could have of another Magorian. This time she has left the world of theatre and moved on to the equally exciting world of the post-war cinema scene.
Fourteen-year-old Henry lives with his mum and stepfather, his gran and his little half sister. It's 1949 and Britain is still heavily rationed, and it's a daily life of queues for everything, and of going without.
Henry lives for the cinema, and sees several films a week, in a way that would seem extravagant today, until you compare it with the amount of time modern teenagers spend in front of the television and computer screens. Michelle Magorian presents the reader with an extremely varied diet of films, all presumably available as described in the book.
Through his movie interests, Henry makes quite a few new friends, which is lucky for him, as his home life falls apart. There is much that is inexplicable, and Henry stumbles on a serious mystery by accident, which threatens to ruin his life as he knows it.
This is a marvellous post-war thriller, containing both a history of the cinema, as well as a lesson in modern history. It's a revelation to come face-to-face with such widespread prejudice in what doesn't feel that long ago.
I can only hope that it won't be another ten years until the next book from Michelle Magorian.