The Wooden Angel — Victor Canning

The setting is Wearemouth, a fictional blend of Plymouth and Dartmouth. We are introduced to five children who, on a walk to the cinema, pass a local landmark, the Wooden Angel, made from a ship's figurehead and stand holding hands, making a wish. The rest of the book follows their careers to see how far the wishes come true. This was the only book written by Victor Canning under the pen name Julian Forest. The time is during and immediately after the Great War, and the book tells us a great deal about social attitudes and class in a west country city of that era. It is one of the best of Victor Canning's early novels.