Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 (The Bloomsbury Group) - Softcover

Dennys, Joyce

3.9

874 ratings by Goodreads

9781608190492: Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942 (The Bloomsbury Group)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1608190498 ISBN 13: 9781608190492

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2010

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Spirited Henrietta wishes she was the kind of doctor's wife who knew exactly how to deal with the daily upheavals of war. But then, everyone in her close-knit Devonshire village seems to find different ways to cope: there's the indomitable Lady B, who writes to Hitler every night to tell him precisely what she thinks of him; the terrifyingly efficient Mrs Savernack, who relishes the opportunity to sit on umpteen committees and boss everyone around; flighty, flirtatious Faith who is utterly preoccupied with the latest hats and flashing her shapely legs; and then there's Charles, Henrietta's hard-working husband who manages to sleep through a bomb landing in their neighbour's garden.

With life turned upside down under the shadow of war, Henrietta chronicles the dramas, squabbles and loyal friendships that unfold in her affectionate letters to her 'dear childhood friend' Robert. Warm, witty and perfectly observed, Henrietta's War brings to life a sparkling community of determined troupers who pull together to fight the good fight with patriotic fervour and good humour.

Henrietta's War is part of The Bloomsbury Group, a new library of books from the early twentieth-century chosen by readers for readers.

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About the Author:

Joyce Dennys was born in 1883 in India. The family relocated to England in 1886. Joyce enjoyed drawing lessons throughout her schooling, which was often interrupted due to financial problems, and later enrolled at Exeter Art School.
She worked as a Voluntary Aid Detachment after passing her Red Cross exams. Joyce designed a recruitment poster to encourage women to join up.
She married a young doctor, in 1919 and moved to New South Wales. Joyce's work was constantly in print and exhibited in many galleries.
In 1922, Joyce became a mother. Her drawing took second place and she became increasingly frustrated. The struggle for women artists to have space to work is a theme that pervades much of her writing. She voiced her frustrations through Henrietta, a heroine she created. This character was to become very important to her, and she claimed: 'Henrietta was part of me. I never quite knew where I ended and she began.' These were later compiled into Henrietta's War.

From Publishers Weekly:

Small wonder that the weekly installments of these endearing letters purportedly written to a friend at the front were eagerly awaited by the British during World War II. For the vignettes of "coping" in Devon are often so hilarious that you are surprised to find yourself wiping away a tear. Henrietta is an engaging character, with a son and a daughter in the services and a doctor husband who gives lectures about the digestive system and snores through air-raid alerts. There's also rotund, indomitable Lady B, ready to plunge into the ocean in pursuit of what looks like a mine; siren-like Faith, growing masses of geraniums to pat on her cheeks in the wartime absence of rouge; Mrs. Savernack, fainting dead away in a first-aid course and nearly killed in the crush of students avid to practice on her. The author's Hokinsonlike illustrations, her gentle wit and her concern for the sensibilities of all around her should guarantee as many delighted readers today as there were 45 years ago. February
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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