The famous and frequently quoted opening line of L.P. Hartley’s 1953 novel The Go-Between (‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.’) could not be a more apt summary of this autobiographical account of the author’s childhood during World War Two.
Humour
Told with a great deal of humour and totally without self-pity (there is no danger of this descending into a ‘misery memoir’) these stories will make you laugh, cry and wonder at just how different – and grindingly hard – life was for millions of people during this period in the last century.
Evacuation
The author recounts her experiences of living in a house without electricity, gas or running water; scavenging for coal along the railway lines; and being evacuated to live with strangers during the war, an unthinkable proposition in today’s world.
A snapshot in time
The stories and experiences recorded here make for fascinating and enjoyable reading, but they are also a valuable social record – a snapshot in time of ordinary people living in extraordinary times that should not be forgotten.
This autobiography also includes some of the author’s later family memories. The Lee and Bennison families included some real characters – you will enjoy meeting them.
Daisy Bennison 