With the lift of a trapdoor, Elsy escapes to her private universe beneath the floor, where she navigates the dangers of war and the complexities of growing up.

During the war-time occupation in the city of Brune, seventeen-year-old Elsy Swell poses as a flower delivery girl, delivering correspondences to the resistance. But when her bike pass attracts the wrong kind of attention, she finds herself forced to aid the occupation too. Determined to weed out the extremists on both sides, Elsy goes rogue.

Written by Hooroo Jackson, the story was conceived as a way to contrast the quirky pixie girl, Elsy with the brutal realities of war. She is always upbeat and up to something, even with bombs going off around her; she notices with cheer, “Ohh, the gunpowder smells rather rosy today.” Elsy Underneath blends the comic with the tragic in wartime. The pains of growing up, falling in love, and dealing with her social circle, blend with the tenseness of being found out at any moment, blown up, or hauled off in the middle of the night. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable coming-of-age story from the writer of Hattie in the Whale and the Unweddable Chattaway Girls.