22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson is a heartbreaking and powerful novel about wartime secrets and the difficulties of adjusting to postwar life

It is 1946 and Silvana and eight-year-old Aurek board a ship that will take them from Poland to England. Silvana has not seen her husband Janusz in six years, but, they are assured, he has made them a home in Ipswich.

However, after living wild in the forests for years, carrying a terrible secret, all Silvana knows is that she and Aurek are survivors. Everything else is lost. While Janusz, a Polish soldier who has criss-crossed Europe during the war, hopes his family will help put his own dark past behind him.

But the war and the years apart will always haunt each of them unless they together confront what they were compelled to do to survive.


'The characters are so convincing and the writing's so unshowily accomplished that it soon becomes something gripping. An admirable debut' Daily Mail

'A most accomplished first novel. Powerful story-telling and entirely convincing in its evocation of post-war England. Very good' Penelope Lively

'Keep your Kleenex handy reading 22 Britannia Road' Grazia

'An affecting story, extremely well told' The Times


Amanda Hodgkinson was born in Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset and grew up in Essex and Suffolk.
She currently lives in south-west France with her husband and two daughters. 22 Britannia Road is her first novel.

About the Author

Amanda Hodgkinson was born in Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset and grew up in Essex and Suffolk.
She currently lives in south-west France with her husband and two daughters. This is her first novel.

Reviews
The characters are so convincing and the writing's so unshowily accomplished that it soon becomes something gripping. An admirable debut * Daily Mail *
[A] powerful debut * Sunday Times Culture Magazine *
A most accomplished first novel. Powerful story-telling and entirely convincing in its evocation of post-war England. Very good * Penelope Lively *
Keep your Kleenex handy reading 22 Britannia Road * Grazia *
Convincing and touchingly portrayed * Independent on Sunday *
Lose yourself in this beautiful tragic tale * Stylist *
A riveting historical novel, set in post-WWII England, about a Polish couple reunited after enduring - and committing - crimes of love and war. * O, the Oprah Magazine *
An affecting story, extremely well told * The Times *
A stark and beautiful book, alive to the compromises, deceptions and passions that traumatic situations can demand from the most circumspect of people * Marie Claire *
A haunting debut that eschews sensationalism and unfurls with quiet delicacy * Easy Living *
[An] ambitious debut * Financial Times *
Riveting, luminous * The New York Times Book Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780141399676
Author Amanda Hodgkinson
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 267g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 24mm