The War That Saved My Life

Dr. Graham explains the operation and its potential outcomes to Ada, but they still have not received Mam’s permission to perform the surgery. Ada reflects on the diagnosis that her foot could have been fixed had Mam arranged for early treatment: “I could have always lived outside the one room. I could have been like Jamie, running fast” (231). For her entire life, Ada has believed that her clubfoot is her own fault and that she is responsible for Mam’s shame and abuse. The realization that Mam could have fixed her foot and didn’t is saddening to Ada, and Susan understands why she feels this way. Ada doesn’t give into her sadness and instead writes to Mam herself to ask permission for the surgery.

Ada’s letter is returned because Mam has moved without providing an updated address. Jamie wonders what will happen to them if the war ends and they don’t know where Mam lives, and Susan assures him that someone will always be there to take care of him.

Susan encourages Ada to continue reading, insisting that she’ll attend the village school next year, and Ada even begins learning math and history. Susan also continues taking care of Ada in healing ways, rubbing oil on Ada’s sores in the cold weather. Ada is accustomed to chilblains in the winter, but this year has them only on her feet rather than her hands and feet like in past years.

Ada finally accepts an invitation from the Colonel to attend tea. When she arrives, Stephen and the Colonel have saved their butter ration for her visit and encourage her to serve herself generously. Ada enjoys herself while visiting, talking about the war and the possibility of spies in England.

When Margaret visits home for Easter, Ada invites her to her birthday party. Margaret gladly accepts, already knowing the story of Ada’s fake birthday. Susan gives Ada one of her own books, signed “With love” (244), a line that sticks with Ada. Margaret gives Ada a wooden pony that reminds her of Butter. The new items make Ada feel like she has an abundance of things, but she still feels sad.

The war continues, and there are rumors of German spies. Jamie begins wetting the bed again, so Susan marches him to the airfield, hoping the pilots will tell Jamie not to worry about spies. Instead, the pilots assure Jamie there are in fact spies, and that he needs to do his part and report anything suspicious at once. It’s not the response Susan expects, but Jamie stops wetting the bed again.

A ship full of injured soldiers arrives from Dunkirk, and Susan goes to town to help with the WVS. Ada wants to be useful too, so she feeds Jamie breakfast and sends him to stay with Grimes while she ventures into town. She arrives at the building being used for a medical hall and immediately gags at the scene. The men in the hall are badly injured, so Susan sends Ada outside where there are still plenty of less-injured men to assist. Ada isn’t sure what to do but finds herself delivering water to injured soldiers alongside a publican’s daughter named Daisy. One soldier asks Ada to do him the favor of writing a letter for him, but by the time she finds a pen and paper, the soldier has died. Ada’s instinct is to go away in her head, but Daisy pulls her back to reality with a hard squeeze of the hand.

Ada is proud to help and feels different after the Dunkirk episode. The experience solidifies Ada’s confidence in her own strength and persistence, leaving her feeling less afraid.

The village begins evacuating its own children, and Lady Thorton encourages Susan to send Ada and Jamie away for their own safety. Susan understands that Ada is difficult and could easily be placed with the wrong kind of person, and she won’t allow the children to be apart, so she insists that both Ada and Jamie stay with her.

By summer, the airfield bans Jamie completely because of military activity; there are planes coming and going throughout the day and night. Lady Thorton continues to pressure Susan to send Ada and Jamie away. Susan is conflicted and questions whether she’s doing a good job taking care of Ada and Jamie. She decides that she hasn’t done too badly, but she still seeks Ada’s confirmation.

The Battle of Britain begins in July, forcing the Smiths into their bomb shelter nightly. The shelter reminds Ada vividly of Mam’s cabinet, and she experiences flashbacks of Mam’s cruel laughter and the feel of roaches as she’s inside the small space. Susan quickly wraps Ada in a blanket like she’s done before when Ada is panicked. This calms Ada, as do the herbs Susan hangs in the shelter to adjust the smell of the damp earth.

Susan doesn’t like Ada riding Butter with the war escalating right around them, but she also doesn’t want to forbid it. Ada enjoys riding in the summer air watching for planes and potential spies. The airfields are the main targets for bombs, so Ada figures she’s safer out riding since that takes her further away from the airfield by their home.

After a few weeks of nightly air raids, Ada becomes accustomed to the bomb shelter routine and no longer panics about the cramped space or an invasion in general. On one of her regular rides with Butter, Ada notices a suspicious person rowing toward shore and burying something in the sand. She rushes to town to report the potential spy, but the first officer she encounters doesn’t believe her story and repeatedly stares at her bad foot. Ada thinks of what Susan would do in this situation and demands to see the man’s superior officer.

A second officer takes Ada in a car to look for the suspicious man. They spot him quickly, but the man sports a perfect English accent and offers documents when stopped by the officer. Ada points out that the man’s trousers are wet and sandy, though, and the beaches are off limits, so the officer arrests the man. That evening, Ada helps the officer locate the place on the beach where the man has buried the mysterious parcel. The next day, the first officer arrives at Susan’s home to offer Ada an apology for not believing her, and he ceremoniously presents her with an onion. When Ada explains the situation to Susan, Susan is proud.