Warlight

Nathaniel, 14, and Rachel, 16, are left in the care of their boarder by their parents for more than a year in post World War II England. That's how this novel starts out. The boarder, dubbed The Moth by the children, has a motley group of friends and acquaintances who fill the house and take on quasi parental roles in the children's lives. The first part of the novel deals with the confusion of being left by their parents and the unconventional experience of being raised and shaped by this group of likable but shady people, told from Nathaniel's point of view.

The second part of the novel deals with Nathaniel at various stages of adulthood, attempting to get to know his mother after she returns and after she has died. In the process he comes to understand more of what happened when he was a teenager and gains some insight into himself.

This is a gorgeous and mysterious book about incomplete vision, being hidden from others and from oneself.