Children's author Tom Palmer signs copies on new book in socially-distanced meet-and-greet

Tom Palmer, of Halifax, signed copies of “After the War: Auschwitz to Ambleside” at Through the Wardrobe, a children’s bookshop in Nettleton Road.

The novel tells a powerful and moving story of Yossi, Leo and Mordecai who survived the horrors of the concentration camps to be sent for a new life in the Lake District in the summer of 1945.

Rooted in the real life story of the Windermere Children, the book was written with the support of the Lake District Holocaust Project.

It’s the 50th book Tom has had published and the subject matter came about through his love for the Lake District.

“I heard a story about the 300 Jewish orphan children and I love the Lake District having spent most of my childhood holidays there,” he said.

“I quickly became fascinated with what it would be like for children who had endured the worst experiences any children have had to suffer to come to such a lovely place.”

Through the Wardrobe was opened in April last year in a tiny former toy shop by sisters Leanne Yeomans and Sam Ward.

The inspiration for its name comes from the popular The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.