In 1943, a close friendship develops between two families in wartime North Devon, one renting a small, terraced house in Barnstaple and the other living on a rented smallholding in the country. While they have to cope with illness, rationing and evacuees, American troops arrive to carry out military manoeuvres on the magnificent beaches, and a mysterious tenant comes to live at a secluded cottage on the Fortescue Estate. Why does he shun all contact?'Make Do and Mend was the wartime slogan put out to the nation in World War 2, and this book tells how the two families, with determination, kindness and humour find different ways of 'Just Making Do.'