Sheila Burnford, the author of The Incredible Journey, offers the
spellbinding tale of a small dog caught up in the Second World War, and
of the extraordinary life-transforming attachments he forms with the
people he encounters in the course of a perilous passage from occupied
France to besieged England.Nameless, Burnford's hero first turns up as a
performing dog, a poodle mix earning his keep as part of a gypsy caravan
that is desperately fleeing the Nazi advance. Taken on ship by the Royal
Navy, he is given the name of Ria and serves as the scruffy mascot to a
boatload of sailors. Marooned in England in the midst of the Blitz, Ria
rescues an old woman from the rubble of her bombed house, and finds
himself unexpectedly transformed into Bel, the coiffed and pampered
companion of her old age.Bel Ria is an exciting story about a
compellingly real, completely believable dog. Readers of all sorts and
ages will find in Bel Ria a companion to take to heart.