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The sweetest lie you’ve ever heard

Everything Will Be Fine, Forever

Kathleen Vereecken & Charlotte Peys

Summer 1914. Eleven-year-old Alice grows up in a loving family in the Westhoek, near Ypres. Through her eyes we see the increasing alarm among the grownups: war is said to be imminent. By the time Aunt Anna from Brussels reassures them that they’re living in the safest little corner of Belgium, Alice already knows that the world isn’t flat and that there is no such thing as a safe little corner. As summer turns to autumn, the family watches as first the refugees come filing past, followed later by the German army. Still, Alice’s mother maintains that all will be well. Until there is no more escaping the war.

Vereecken captures the harsh reality in poetic sentences. An extraordinarily strong novel ****
Cutting Edge

In brief chapters Kathleen Vereecken offers us a glimpse inside the head of a child during World War One. The dreamy illustrations by new talent Charlotte Peys complement the subtle text beautifully. Vereecken paints a lovely and convincing picture of Alice’s thoughts and observations, in her usual evocative style. In the course of the narrative, Alice’s naivety makes way for a brutal confrontation with reality, but ‘Everything Will Be Fine, Forever’ is first and foremost a celebration of life and hope.

A strong YA novel, which delivers in all areas: plot, style and illustrations.
MappaLibri
An honest and poignant book****
De Standaard