Stranger in the House: Women's Stories of Men Returning from the Second World War - Couverture souple

Summers, Julie

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1416526846 ISBN 13 : 9781416526841

Editeur : Simon & Schuster, 2009

Synopsis

Unusual book

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture :

'It is in the courage, honesty and vividness of these first-hand accounts that the power of these reminiscences lies' Daily Telegraph
From 1945, more than four million British servicemen were demobbed and sent home after the most destructive war in history. But both the men themselves and the homes they were returning to had changed. Much has been written about men's experiences of the war but uniquely, Julie Summers focuses on the women's side of the story, women on the receiving end of demobilisation.
Summers interviewed over a hundred of the mothers, wives, sisters, fiancées and their children who were caught up in the maelstrom of history. Their stories are many and varied: wives who had to deal with an injured, emotionally damaged husband; children who had never seen their father before; women who had illegitimate children following a wartime affair as well as those whose steadfast optimism was rewarded with a delightful reunion. Stranger in the House is a moving and honest look at how war altered ordinary women's lives forever.
'Engaging voices … bring that cold, dark world of postwar austerity to life … Summers has deftly woven these varied stories into a cohesive whole, while letting the characters speak for themselves. It is a fine achievement' The Spectator
'An extraordinary range of previously untapped voices and experiences' Good Housekeeping
'Stories of both heartbreak and courage give voice to the women who fought their own battles throughout the war, and went on fighting long after peace had been declared' Justine Picardie, Mail on Sunday

Présentation de l'éditeur :

'It is as if I have been waiting for someone to ask me these questions for almost the whole of my life'
From 1945, more than four million British servicemen were demobbed and sent home after the most destructive war in history. Damaged by fighting, imprisonment or simply separation from their loved ones, these men returned to a Britain that had changed in their absence.
In Stranger in the House, Julie Summers tells the women's story, interviewing over a hundred women who were on the receiving end of demobilisation: the mothers, wives, sisters, who had to deal with an injured, emotionally-damaged relative; those who assumed their fiancés had died only to find them reappearing after they had married another; women who had illegitimate children following a wartime affair as well as those whose steadfast optimism was rewarded with a delightful reunion.
Many of the tales are moving, some are desperately sad, others are full of humour but all provide a fascinating account of how war altered ordinary women's lives forever.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Simon & Schuster
• Date d'édition: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1416526846
• ISBN 13: 9781416526841
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 384