About the book: 2023 / “A kind of radiant goodness, a feeling that the world is a better place with books like this in it” Financial Times Saturday afternoon 1944. A shop in south-east London receives a shipment of aluminum frying pans. A crowd gathers to see the first metal utensils in many years, all of which were melted down for the war effort. A moment later, the crowd disappears. A German bomb hits the counter directly. Among the dead were small children - Alec, Vern, Val, Ben and Joe. Who are they and who would they become if each of them lived their lives in the bustling London of the 60s, 80s and 90s? A conductor or a homeowner, a swindler or a teacher, or maybe a prisoner? We will see their life as it could have been if not for that terrible day.