Escape from Shangri-La
1998
First Published
3.82
Average Rating
192
Number of Pages
A gripping and heartfelt war story from Britain’s best-loved children’s author, Michael Morpurgo. Turned away by his own son, Cessie’s long-lost grandfather finds himself in the place he fears most a nursing home called Shangri-La. Only Cessie loves him and is determined to help him escape and unravel the truth of his past. A past that comes to him only in glimpses a lifeboat, a tin of condensed milk, a terrifying night on the beaches of Dunkirk in World War II.
Avg Rating
3.82
Number of Ratings
1,620
5 STARS
27%
4 STARS
37%
3 STARS
29%
2 STARS
6%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads
Author
Michael Morpurgo
Author · 138 books
Sir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.
