Back Home is a children's historical novel by Michelle Magorian, first published in 1984. The novel was adapted into a TV drama, Back Home (1990), starring Hayley Mills and Haley Carr, and again in 2001 starring Sarah Lancashire, Stephanie Cole and Jessica Fox.
Plot summary Twelve-year-old Virginia 'Rusty' Dickinson (so-called due to her auburn hair) is an evacuee returning home to England near the end of World War Two. After having lived in the US since the age of seven, Rusty barely remembers England or her parents, and hasn't met her four-year-old brother Charlie at all. Rusty's an outgoing, confident, creative girl who loves the outdoors and working with her hands.
The story opens with Rusty's arrival at the docks in Plymouth where she is greeted by her mother, Peggy. Rusty initially doesn't recognise Peggy who, in turn, is taken aback by how grown-up her daughter is. Rusty is surprised to see how run down the town is, how shabby her mother's clothes are, and shocked by the bombed out buildings they pass. Rusty and Peggy make the journey to the countryside near Totnes where Peggy and Charlie have been living during the war. There Rusty meets Beatie, the old friendly woman who owns the house, Ivy, a young woman whose first husband is missing, presumed dead, and who is now engaged to an American G.I., Ivy's five-year-old daughter Susan, and Charlie. Charlie, who was born while Rusty was in the US, is suspicious and unwelcoming towards his new sister.
Rusty spends the following days feeling out of place in her new home. Peggy is cool and distant towards her, treats her like a child, and scolds her for unexpectedly mundane things, like talking about her American family, the Omsks. Rusty feels resentful towards her mother as Peggy doesn't appear to want to get to know her daughter, and instead spends a large portion of her days out working as a mechanic with the Women's Volunteer Service. Their mutual incomprehension comes to a head when Rusty heads out alone on the river in a rowboat, only to return hours later to find her mother furious with her for leaving without permission. The owner of the boat, thirteen-year-old Beth Hatherley, is initially angry with Rusty for taking the boat, however soon softens towards Rusty. They strike up the beginnings of a friendship, but are hampered by Peggy's protectiveness. Beth introduces Rusty to her three siblings and tells her about her school, a forward-thinking and progressive place (possibly based on Dartington Hall School considering the setting) that encourages creativity and independence. Rusty overhears her mother telling Beatie that the school isn't the right kind of place to receive a serious education, and that she is set in her plans to send Rusty to boarding school. This makes Rusty feel even more isolated from her mother. The only person aside from Beth to show Rusty any real warmth or affection is Beatie.
With the declaration of Japanese surrender marking the end of the war, Peggy reluctantly takes the children back to their home in Guildford, Surrey, where they lived before the war, and where Rusty's paternal grandmother still lives. Rusty is disappointed to find that her grandmother is different from Beatie in every sense: she disapproves of Peggy's work as a mechanic, is harsh with Charlie, and has clear disdain for Rusty's American accent, clothing, and manners. As challenging as life was in Devon, Rusty finds living with her grandmother even more irksome. She endures her grandmother's snide comments until the beginning of the school term, when Rusty's sent away to school. Her new school, Benwood House, is a strict all-girls boarding school, where she will be living during the week. Peggy is permitting her to come home at weekends. To Rusty's disbelief, she finds Benwood to be even more unpleasant than Guildford. There are countless rules, many of which strike Rusty as arbitrary. Prohibited behaviour includes holding hands or hugging, getting out of bed before the morning bell, going for walks alone, putting hands in pockets, talking back, or the use of slang. These last two rules cause a great deal of trouble as Rusty is accustomed to speaking her mind and saying things like 'OK' and 'uh-huh'. Rusty struggles to make friends at Benwood. The other girls are openly hostile towards her. She's also the worst in the class at most of her subjects. The areas where she excels - art, gym, and Greek dance - are soon cancelled in favour of extra Latin and maths revision.
Rusty spends her weeks shuttling between Benwood, which she hates, and Guildford, which she hates equally. She's intensely homesick and daydreams incessantly about her American family: Aunt Hannah, Uncle Bruno, Jinkie, Alice, Kathryn, and Skeet, and her best girl friend, Janey. One night she's so desperately lonely that she climbs out onto the high scaffolding that encases the school building, intending to jump off it to her death. Once she gets out there, however, she finds she can't go through with it. Instead, an idea occurs to her. She realises that she can shinny down the scaffolding, climb the school wall, and disappear into the forest for a few hours. She relishes the freedom she feels in the woods, and resolves to keep returning night after night.
One day Rusty meets a boy, Lance, from a nearby school who was also a US evacuee. She discovers that Lance lived in the same town as her US grandparents, the Fitzes. For the first time since returning to England Rusty feels happy and connected with someone who understands what she's going through. Unfortunately, talking to boys is strictly forbidden at Benwood, and Rusty is severely punished. Despite this, she manages to pass a message to Lance to meet her at midnight behind her school. From then on Rusty includes Lance in her nighttime forest wanderings and the two become friends. One night they stumble upon a bombed-out cottage that has an intact, albeit bare, sitting room. Rusty dubs the room their 'cabin in the woods'.
Despite Lance and the little cabin, Rusty is still desperately lonely. Her unhappiness is compounded by the news that Beatie, who has always complained of 'ruddy indigestion', has died. Rusty and Peggy go to Devon for the reading of Beatie's will. Beatie leaves Rusty her collection of woodworking tools and leaves Peggy the house, with the condition that she's not to sell it for seventeen years and, if she does choose to sell it after that time, that she only sell it to a woman. These terms mean that Peggy cannot be forced by Roger to sell the house or put it into her husband's name, making her independent if she chooses to be. Rusty and Peggy spend the weekend in Devon and start to get to know each other a little better. Rusty discovers that her mother is actually fun and adventurous and that they surprisingly have quite a lot in common.
Upon their return to Guildford, things are made worse when Rusty's father, Roger, returns from Asia where he's been stationed in the army. A hard man, Roger fails to connect with Rusty, Peggy, or Charlie. He belittles Peggy, is harsh with Charlie who constantly compares him to 'Uncle Harvey' since he was led to believe his father would play with him, and is horrified by Rusty's boldness. Rusty watches her mother struggle to come to terms with Roger's return. Roger is surprised that Rusty comes home at weekends and thinks it would be better if she were a full-time boarder. He also thinks it unnecessary that she's in the university-geared A-stream at school, instead suggesting that she would be better off doing a cookery course when she graduates and then getting married. While Rusty resents her mother's insistence on academic excellence, her father's plan for marrying her off seems no more appealing.
When Peggy is away for the day, Rusty finds that Roger has taken Charlie out alone while she is asked to have tea with her grandmother. Rusty is suspicious when she sees Charlie's beloved teddy bear abandoned since he always carrys it with him. When Roger returns with Charlie, it is revealed that he forcibly held his son down while a barber shaved the boy's head. Charlie is traumatised, has soiled himself and is begging for Peggy. Roger loses his temper and tries to beat Charlie with the cane but Rusty protects him, taking the beating herself before taking Charlie upstairs to bathe him and put him to bed. Charlie insists on sleeping with Rusty and asks her if they can go 'back home' to Devon. After this the relationship between the siblings is better since Charlie sees Rusty as a friend against his hated grandmother and father. Peggy returns and is furious about the punishment but feels unable to do anything more to protect her children since Roger is head of the household.
After the Christmas break, during which things deteriorate rapidly between Rusty and Roger, Rusty returns to Benwood House with a letter from her parents informing the headmistress that Rusty is to no longer come home on weekends, and is to instead become a full-time boarder. Rusty neglects to pass on the letter. When the weekend rolls around she leaves the school as usual but, instead of being greeted by Peggy, slips away into the forest. She spends the weekend sprucing up the cabin in the woods. She finds and repairs old furniture in the rubble. She paints the walls with traditional American stencils, washes the curtains, builds shelves, and chops wood. She returns to school on Monday with nobody the wiser. She does the same thing the following weekend, and then the weekend after that. Once back at school, she's brought back to reality when the headmistress announces the impending removal of the scaffolding, effectively ending Rusty's nighttime adventures. Panicked, Rusty resolves to run away back to the Omsks'.
She slips out of school one morning and heads for Plymouth, but accidentally gets off at the wrong stop. She realises that she's near Beatie's house, so walks through the wintry countryside. The journey takes her all day. As she walks she thinks about her American family, and about how they always gently reminded her that she had a real family back in England who loved her and missed her. Rusty finally reaches Beatie's house and also reaches the decision that she won't be able to run away to the US as she's grown to love her mother and doesn't want to leave her again. Thin, starved, and freezing, Rusty falls asleep on the floor in Beatie's empty house. She's woken by Beth and Mrs Hatherley wrapping her in blankets and lighting a fire to keep her warm. Rusty returns to Benwood with Mrs Hatherly to find police officers, teachers, and Peggy frantic with worry. Police have discovered the cabin in the woods. Peggy is astounded by Rusty's decorating talent and, once she sees the height of the scaffolding, appreciates for the first time how desperate Rusty must have been to have scaled it in the dark. Rusty and Peggy are summoned to see the headmistress. Rusty is expelled from Benwood and told that no other school will have her. Peggy and Rusty return to Guildford to face Roger and Mrs Dickinson Senior's wrath.