Twelve-year-old Virginia 'Rusty' Dickinson (so-called due to her auburn hair) is an evacuee returning home to England near the end of World War Two.

After having lived in the US since the age of seven, Rusty barely remembers England or her parents, and hasn't met her four-year-old brother Charlie at all.

Rusty is surprised to see how run down the town is, how shabby her mother's clothes are, and shocked by the bombed out buildings they pass.

Rusty feels resentful towards her mother as Peggy doesn't appear to want to get to know her daughter, and instead spends a large portion of her days out working as a mechanic with the Women's Volunteer Service.

The areas where she excels - art, gym, and Greek dance - are soon cancelled in favour of extra Latin and maths revision.

She's intensely homesick and daydreams incessantly about her American family: Aunt Hannah, Uncle Bruno, Jinkie, Alice, Kathryn, and Skeet, and her best girl friend, Janey.

One night she's so desperately lonely that she climbs out onto the high scaffolding that encases the school building, intending to jump off it to her death.

These terms mean that Peggy cannot be forced by Roger to sell the house or put it into her husband's name, making her independent if she chooses to be.

He belittles Peggy, is harsh with Charlie who constantly compares him to 'Uncle Harvey' since he was led to believe his father would play with him, and is horrified by Rusty's boldness.

When Roger returns with Charlie, it is revealed that he forcibly held his son down while a barber shaved the boy's head.

Peggy returns and is furious about the punishment but feels unable to do anything more to protect her children since Roger is head of the household.

She paints the walls with traditional American stencils, washes the curtains, builds shelves, and chops wood.

Rusty returns to Benwood with Mrs Hatherly to find police officers, teachers, and Peggy frantic with worry.

The reader learns that Peggy has left Roger and has taken Rusty and Charlie back to live in Beatie's house in Devon.

Virginia 'Rusty' Dickinson Evacuated from Britain at age 7 as a timid and shy child, 12-year-old Rusty returns as a confident and very American teenager.

During her evacuation she stayed in Connecticut with the lively Omsk family, who encouraged her talents and belief in herself, drawing her out of her shell.

Rusty loves bright colours, art and music- she has especially talent at woodwork and stencil crafts which she was taught by 'Aunt' Hannah Omsk.

Initially unhappy on her return to England, Rusty finds friends in Beth & Beattie Langley and refuses to alter her character to fit in with the hidebound English girls.

Margaret 'Peggy' Dickinson Forced to evacuate her little daughter during the war, Peggy joined the WVS and become a stronger woman through it with a talent for vehicle mechanics.

Through her friendship with Beattie and Harvey, Peggy learns self confidence and to trust her own judgement which was not encouraged when she lived with her husband as she was seen as inferior to Roger and his mother.

Peggy is a good example of how British women's roles changed during the war, moving into jobs traditionally held by men and often becoming the sole breadwinner for their family because of being widowed or their husbands being away fighting.

He had a father figure in his mother's American GI friend Uncle Harvey, whom he adored, and he carries his teddy bear with him everywhere.

Roger is not deliberately unkind or unfeeling, but has trouble adjusting to the changes in his family and to the altered England he returns to.

Has a bad habit of taking the phone off the hook and other controlling ways, is deliberately manipulative and disruptive when Roger returns home in order to discredit Peggy.

Kind, open minded, cheerful, perceptive and generous, Beatie gave away all of her curtains and many possessions to help the war effort – material was in short supply – and happily shared her rambling and leaky-roofed house with several women who were serving in the forces.

He provides Rusty with a friend as he sneaks out to meet her in their cabin in the woods, admires her talent with handicrafts and they help each other with their schoolwork.

Lance's parents are getting divorced and to escape the house he goes for long runs in the holidays which leads to him joining the school rugby team and being accepted by other students.

This was a situation that did happen quite often during the war, when one partner was presumed dead and their spouse moved on, only to discover that they were alive years later and that their new union wasn't lawful.

Harvey represents the idea of a more modern man who takes on childcare duties and is more open with his wife, as well as being the type of father Charlie would have loved to have.

Encouraging, kind and reasonable, the Omsks are creative and practical people who continue to send Rusty letters and presents.