1940: London is about to be ravaged by the Blitz. For Lydia the last beating is the final straw. She has to escape from her husband, and when a gas explosion rips their house apart she flees, taking baby Grace with her. Rejected by her father, and not knowing where to go next, she joins a crowd of evacuee children at the railway station, and her destiny is changed forever as they find themselves in rural Wales.

Don't Pass Me By is the story not only of Lydia and Grace's salvation, but of the lives of a handful of evacuee children transplanted from the city to a tiny village filled with strangers who speak a different language. Torn away from their parents, each child learns to cope – one with a farm full of fearsome animals and a warm, caring family; others not so lucky. From the love and compassion of many, to sinister abuse from a few, the children find different ways to survive their own catastrophes, while Lydia finds what she has always been seeking – but when her masquerade of widowhood is shattered, will she lose everything?

Don't Pass Me By is author Julie McGowan's third book, and the second based in her much-loved homeland of Wales. Her first, The Mountains Between, became a regional best-seller. Her second book, Just One More Summer, is a wonderfully intricate read based in Cornwall.