Maisie Morris lives with her mum in a titchy tiny turret at the top of Withering Heights Retirement Home and plays gin rummy with the elderly residents. But all live in fear of Withering Heights' odious owners, Mr and Mrs Arkwright, who run a rotten, rigid regime.
Arctic explorer, survival expert and naturalist Freddy Spencer Chapman was trapped behind enemy lines when the Japanese overran Malaya in 1942. His response was to begin a commando campaign of such lethal effectiveness that the Japanese deployed an entire regiment against him, hunting for him as they did for no other. He was wounded, and racked by tropical disease. His companions were killed, or captured...