Carrie's War door Nina Bawden

Chapter 1

Carrie, a widow, takes her children to the village where she was evacuated 30 years ago during World 

War Two. She had been 11 at the time and her brother Nick was nearly ten. At first she is excited at the

thought of going back but now, as they walk towards a house she used to visit, she becomes sad and

anxious. She says she did a dreadful thing when she was here before. They turn away from the path that

leads to the house – she says no one lives there any more in any case – and head back to the village. 

As they walk, she tells the children her story.

∑ What was the real name of Druid’s Bottom?

∑ How has the village and area around it changed since Carrie was there?

∑ How do the children react to Carrie’s moods?

Chapter 2

The book now goes back 30 years. Nick is sick on the train taking a group of evacuees from London to the

village where they are to spend the war. Nick and Carrie meet an older boy, Albert Sandwich, who helps

them carry their bags to the village hall. The children are told to stand by the wall so the villagers can pick

the ones they want to take home with them. One of the organisers encourages Miss Evans – Auntie Lou –

to take Carrie and Nick. She is nervous as her brother told her to get two girls. Mr Evans is a grocer and

lives above the shop. Auntie Lou gives the children something to eat and hurries them off to bed before Mr

Evans gets home. Downstairs the children can hear Mr Evans shouting. Nick thinks he must be an ogre.

∑ Why do you think Carrie’s mother is cheerful at the station?

∑ Why does Carrie admire the way Albert behaves?

∑ Why is Carrie anxious about Mr Evans’ house being so tidy?

6 The Great Reading Adventure 2005 – Carrie’s War Activity Pack

CARRIE’S WAR – 

CHAPTER BY CHAPTERChapter 3

The children meet Mr Evans for the first time. Auntie Lou explains to the children how her father was 

killed in the mine. When her mother died too, Mr Evans and his wife took Auntie Lou in and brought her 

up alongside their own son. Mr Evans has been more like her father than a brother to her. Carrie and Nick 

help out in the shop. Nick is caught stealing biscuits and Mr Evans threatens to beat him with his belt but

instead prays with him. They settle in to life in the village. The children get a letter saying their mother has

gone to Glasgow to be near her husband who is stationed there. She comes to visit for a day.

∑ Why doesn’t Mr Evans want Nick to tell his teachers he was hungry?

∑ Why is Carrie worried when Nick says he hates Mr Evans?

∑ Why do you think they feel shy when their mother comes to visit them?

Chapter 4

Nick is given a pair of gloves and a Bible for his birthday. Nick and Carrie have to go to Druid’s Bottom 

to collect a Christmas goose from Mr Evans’ older sister, Dilys Gotobed. Mr Evans was upset when Dilys

married an English mineowner and has fallen out with her, though he still accepts the annual goose. 

Auntie Lou has said that the path through the Grove to the house is not a place to be in after dark but 

Mr Evans thinks that’s all superstitious nonsense. Carrie and Nick try to be brave but are startled by a

strange gobbling sound coming through the trees. They run to the house, terrified.

∑ Why does Carrie feel sorry for Mr Evans?

∑ Auntie Lou says Mr Evans and Mrs Gotobed are both proud people. What do you think she means 

by this?

∑ Why do you think the walk to Druid’s Bottom is the most important journey Carrie and Nick 

made together?

Chapter 5

The children enter the warmth and safety of Hepzibah Green’s kitchen where they see Albert Sandwich. 

The gobbling noise was made by Mister Johnny Gotobed who has difficulty talking. Nick soon makes friends

with him. When they fetch the goose together, Albert tells Carrie what he has learnt about the house and

family. He shows her a skull and asks Hepzibah to tell the story of the curse that goes with it. Mister Johnny

walks the children part of the way home. Having seen how lovely it was at Druid’s Bottom, the Evans’

house seems much bleaker.

∑ What does Albert mean when he says that Hepzibah is a witch?

∑ What differences between Carrie and Albert do we learn in this chapter?

∑ Why is Carrie jealous of Nick?

Chapter 6

Mr Evans asks Carrie if she saw his sister, Mrs Gotobed. He distrusts Hepzibah and thinks Mister Johnny 

is an idiot. Nick is angry with Carrie because he thinks she was sucking up to Mr Evans. Carrie overhears 

Mr Evans telling Auntie Lou it’ll be useful for the children to go to the house again to keep an eye on

The Great Reading Adventure 2005 – Carrie’s War Activity Pack 7Hepzibah. After Christmas, Mr Evans tells the children to take a tin of biscuits to Hepzibah as a thank you

present for the goose. Mister Johnny shows them his cow and the hens. Carrie hears Mrs Gotobed crying

but doesn’t see her. Mr Evans is in a bad mood when they get back and doesn’t question her. She hopes

she imagined that he wanted her to spy on Hepzibah.

∑ Why is Carrie cautious when Mr Evans starts asking her questions?

∑ How does she feel when Nick is angry with her?

∑ What upsets Carrie when she sees Hepzibah at the top of the stairs?

Chapter 7

Auntie Lou goes away to stay with a friend. In April, Carrie finally meets Mrs Gotobed. Mrs Gotobed is

wearing a ball gown. She intends to wear all her gowns before she dies, leaving the best to last. She gives

Carrie a message for Mr Evans, only to be delivered after Mrs Gotobed is dead. Carrie has a birthday tea 

at Druid’s Bottom. Albert walks with her through the Grove and says that some people think it is sacred. 

He kisses her. When the children get back home, Mr Evans is angry. He is even more cross when he finds

out Carrie has seen Mrs Gotobed and not told him about it. Auntie Lou is all dressed up to go dancing so

Mr Evans shouts at her instead. Carrie is worried that Mr Evans will force her to be a spy.

∑ Why does Carrie find Mrs Gotobed both embarrassing and frightening?

∑ Why do you think Carrie is cross when Nick keeps talking about his best things?

∑ How has Auntie Lou changed since she went away?

Chapter 8

Hepzibah tries to explain Mr Evans to Carrie. He’s had a difficult life and it has made him hard and cold.

Major Cass Harper comes to see Auntie Lou. At first, to Nick’s annoyance, Carrie sends the major away but

then the children help him meet Auntie Lou. The children clean the chapel for Auntie Lou. When they get

back, Mr Evans is doing his accounts and looks tired.

∑ Why doesn’t Mr Evans like the Americans?

∑ What do you think Hepzibah means when she says ‘Rich people’s charity can be a cold business’?

∑ Why is Auntie Lou worried about going into the pub?

Chapter 9

Mr Evans’ son Frederick is home on leave from the army. Frederick comes with the children to help harvest

the hay field at Druid’s Bottom. He teases Mister Johnny who attacks him with a pitchfork. Mrs Gotobed

walks out to see them, dressed in her final ball gown. Mrs Gotobed tells Carrie not to be afraid and to

remember the message.

∑ Why do you think Mr Evans tells Frederick to pay his respects to his Auntie?

∑ Why might Mister Johnny be locked up if they moved from Druid’s Bottom?

∑ Why does Mrs Gotobed say that Mr Evans’ heart will be broken?

8 The Great Reading Adventure 2005 – Carrie’s War Activity PackChapter 10

Mrs Gotobed dies in July. Albert comes to tell Mr Evans who closes the shop. Albert and Carrie go for a

walk and wonder what will happen to Hepzibah and Mister Johnny. Albert says Mrs Gotobed was going 

to leave a Will saying they could stay on rent free at Druid’s Bottom as long as they wanted to. Mr Evans

would get the house and Auntie Lou the jewellery. Mr Evans will be angry when he realises that he won’t

be able to sell or rent the house because Hepzibah and Mister Johnny will be living there. Carrie thinks 

he’ll be happy to get the message that Mrs Gotobed wanted to do the right thing. Albert is doubtful. 

Mr Evans flies into a rage when he hears the message.

∑ Why do you think Albert talks about the ants?

∑ Why does Carrie think Mr Evans will be pleased when she tells him Mrs Gotobed’s message?

∑ What’s Nick’s opinion of Carrie?

Chapter 11

Mr Evans seems to calm down but he’s still angry with Hepzibah. Carrie goes to Druid’s Bottom to warn

them about Mr Evans but is too late: he’s already been. No Will has been found and Mrs Gotobed’s London

solicitor knows nothing about it. Everything will now go automatically to Mr Evans. Hepzibah and Mister

Johnny must leave. Mr Evans has been through all of Mrs Gotobed’s things. Mister Johnny seems to be

saying that Mr Evans took something from the jewel box. Albert remembers seeing an envelope in there

and it is now gone. He thinks it might have been the missing Will and that it was written by a local solicitor

rather than the London one. Hepzibah tries to soothe the children by telling stories of when she was young.

∑ Why do you think Carrie is slow to understand what Albert is saying about Mr Evans and the Will?

∑ Why does Albert think he won’t be believed?

∑ Why does Albert look sadly at Carrie when she suggests Hepzibah could put a spell on Mr Evans?

Chapter 12

Mr Evans and Auntie Lou go to the funeral. Carrie still struggles to believe that Mr Evans would have

destroyed the Will. A letter comes saying that her mother has resigned from her ambulance unit and has

rented a house for them all to live in. The children can join her in two weeks. Nick doesn’t want to leave

Auntie Lou at first, but soon starts getting excited about going. Albert is going to stay with Mr Morgan, 

the minister, because he will have to leave Druid’s Bottom when Hepzibah goes. He had tried to ask the

local solicitor if he knew anything about the Will but lost his nerve.

∑ How does Carrie feel about Nick and Auntie Lou being ‘thick as thieves’?

∑ Why does Albert find it a disadvantage being a child?

∑ Why does Carrie feel ‘torn in two’?

The Great Reading Adventure 2005 – Carrie’s War Activity Pack 9Chapter 13

Mr Evans says he’ll miss having Carrie in the shop. On their last day in the village, Mr Evans shuts the shop

and takes the children and Auntie Lou for a picnic. He talks about when he was a boy. When they get back

he gives them each a present: a knife for Nick and a ring for Carrie. The children go to Druid’s Bottom for a

farewell tea. Hepzibah tells the story of the skull’s curse again. Carrie shows Hepzibah the ring she’s been

given. She suddenly remembers seeing it on Mrs Gotobed’s finger. Albert is angry and thinks that Mr Evans

stole the ring from the jewel box, though Hepzibah says it was his to take now he’s inherited everything.

Carrie offers to take the skull back to the library but throws it in the horse pond. Albert tells her Hepzibah

has found a place on a remote farm where she can take Mister Johnny. The children hurry home. There’s no

one there but there’s a note left by Auntie Lou. She has gone away to marry Major Harper. Nick knew about

it and hadn’t told Carrie.

∑ Why do you think Carrie had never talked about her mother to the others?

∑ Why does Hepzibah speak sharply to Johnny?

∑ Why does Carrie throw the skull in the pond?

Chapter 14

The children hurry to bed to avoid seeing Mr Evans. Carrie wakes up and hears Mr Evans downstairs, raking

the fire. She is so angry with him she decides to go down and throw the ring in his face. He looks as if he’s

been sitting by the fire all night. He starts making the breakfast and moans about Auntie Lou leaving. He

shows Carrie an old photo of Mrs Gotobed in his fob watch. She’s wearing the ring he gave to Carrie, which

he’d bought his sister with his first wages. He had found it in the jewel box in an envelope addressed to

him. He sees the children off at the station. Nick’s glad to be going. As the train pulls away from the village

he shouts goodbye to all the things they pass. Carrie screams when she sees Druid’s Bottom on fire. She

thinks it’s her fault for throwing away the skull.

∑ Why does Carrie lose all her rage when she sees Mr Evans by the fire?

∑ What do you think Mr Evans really feels about Mrs Gotobed?

∑ Why do you think the children never speak of Druid’s Bottom again?

Chapter 15

It is now back to the present. Carrie’s children leave her to sleep in late at the pub and walk to Druid’s

Bottom on their own. They find an outbuilding by the ruined house that seems to be inhabited. An elderly

woman is out feeding chickens. The children think it must be Hepzibah. She invites them in for breakfast

and introduces them to Mister Johnny. She tells them what happened after Carrie and Nick left. She sends

them out to meet Carrie who is walking through the Grove towards them.

∑ Why do you think Carrie still cries about Druid’s Bottom, even though she knows the fire wasn’t 

really her fault?

∑ Why hadn’t Carrie and Albert kept in touch?

∑ What do you think will happen next in the story?

10 The Great Reading Adventure 2005 – Carrie’s War Activity PackThe Great Reading Adventure 2005 – Carrie’s War Activity Pack 1