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194th out of 423 books
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611 voters
Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942
by
Joyce Dennys
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 re...more
Paperback, 158 pages
Published
2009
by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
(first published 1985)
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How it begins...
October 18, 1939
My dear Robert,
It was good to get your letter and hear that you are in a 'perfectly safe place,' though I wonder how much of that is true and how much intended to allay the alarms of your Childhood's Friend. And why, when I and everybody else know that you are in France, must I address my letters to Berkshire? Well, well, I suppose They Know Best, and Ours Not to Reason Why, but I seem to remember that when I wrote to you in the last war I used to put "B.E.F., Fra...more
October 18, 1939
My dear Robert,
It was good to get your letter and hear that you are in a 'perfectly safe place,' though I wonder how much of that is true and how much intended to allay the alarms of your Childhood's Friend. And why, when I and everybody else know that you are in France, must I address my letters to Berkshire? Well, well, I suppose They Know Best, and Ours Not to Reason Why, but I seem to remember that when I wrote to you in the last war I used to put "B.E.F., Fra...more
Henrietta! What a wonderful, rounded out character. Living in a "safe area" out on the Devon Coast during World War two, this British housewife tells her story in a series of letters to a childhood friend who is overseas in the military, fighting for Mother England. But Henrietta doesn't only tell her own story, it's a sketch of an entire village, trying to go on with life as normal as refugees from London are arriving every day, rations are getting ever tighter and soldiers are doing exercises...more
This is the first book of the two about Henrietta's experience in the war. Her narrative voice is so funny and wry and the little cartoon drawings that are scattered throughout the book are perfect.
I love their village in Devonshire where they are trying hard to be helpful to the war effort. Like, in order to train for the A.R.P. villagers pitch in and one night as Charles is walking home he nearly runs over a figure lying at the side of the road - " "Hullo, what's the matter with you?" and a...more
I love their village in Devonshire where they are trying hard to be helpful to the war effort. Like, in order to train for the A.R.P. villagers pitch in and one night as Charles is walking home he nearly runs over a figure lying at the side of the road - " "Hullo, what's the matter with you?" and a...more
Joyce Dennys, an illustrator by trade, wrote this series of essays as a weekly column during WW II; they purport to be letters written by Henrietta (the local doctor's wife) to her Childhood's Friend, Robert, at the Front. Gentle, wry, and often laugh-out-loud funny, Henrietta's letters describe the daily struggles of ordinary Englishmen and -women, Keeping the Home Fires Burning. Of course, each letter is illustrated by one of Dennys's witty illustrations.
This may be my favorite Bloomsbury to d...more
This may be my favorite Bloomsbury to d...more
I have been reading a lot of domestic fiction from Britain of the 1930's and 40's, mostly diary-style and short stories. I must say that this book, which takes the form of letters from a housewife and mother in Devon to her "Childhood's Friend" Robert who is at the front, is gentler and more wistful than other books I've read in this particular genre. E. M. Delafield's funny "Provincial Lady" books, which I read snd enjoyed just before this book have a similar venue (small town, trying to make d...more
Joyce Denny's story told through letters and illustrations were a regular feature in Sketch during the war and they have recently been republished in book form by Bloomsbury Group doing a series of rediscovering old favorites. For me, Joyce Denny is a new favorite. Henrietta's War was a refreshing palate cleanser - like a fruity sorbet between the courses of a heavy meal. Henrietta lives in Devon during WWII and relays the goings on of her small town to her childhood friend, Robert, who is off a...more
What a truly delightful book to read! I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading Joyce Dennys' book, Henrietta's War: News From The Home Front 1939 - 1942; in fact I read it straight through in one sitting because I didn't want to put it down. Here is the blurb from the back of the book (it'll give you an idea of what this little gem is all about):
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...more
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...more
Reason for Reading: I am reading all The Bloomsbury Group books.
Joyce Dennys who at the time was more known for her illustrations and aid work during WWI found her time more limited during WWII, being now taken up almost full-time as a mother and doctor's wife so she turned to writing, publishing a fictional letter from "Henrietta" to a dear "Childhood's Friend" on the war front about daily life back on the home front. The article proved so popular that Henrietta's letters became a regular featu...more
Joyce Dennys who at the time was more known for her illustrations and aid work during WWI found her time more limited during WWII, being now taken up almost full-time as a mother and doctor's wife so she turned to writing, publishing a fictional letter from "Henrietta" to a dear "Childhood's Friend" on the war front about daily life back on the home front. The article proved so popular that Henrietta's letters became a regular featu...more
I stumbled across this book by accident whilst looking for books about women's roles in WWII.
At only 158 pages, it is a very quick read and I finished it in about 3 hours.
The story is from a series of letters that the author wrote for the magazine Sketch. They are based on her life as the wife of a GP in a Devon coastal town during the years of the Second World War.Each letter is addressed to her childhood friend, Robert who is away fighting.
I loved the light heartedness of this book. The reside...more
At only 158 pages, it is a very quick read and I finished it in about 3 hours.
The story is from a series of letters that the author wrote for the magazine Sketch. They are based on her life as the wife of a GP in a Devon coastal town during the years of the Second World War.Each letter is addressed to her childhood friend, Robert who is away fighting.
I loved the light heartedness of this book. The reside...more
Joyce Dennys non era una scrittrice, bensì un'artista (pittrice) convertitasi in moglie e madre. Nonostante una vita soddisfacente, sotto certi aspetti Joyce è una donna frustrata nelle sue ambizioni e quando scoppia la guerra decide di fare qualcosa per sollevare lo spirito degli inglesi e creando un alter ego, Henrietta: una donna di mezza età appartenente alla middle class inglese, che vive in provincia con il marito dottore e due figli. Henrietta vive in un paese costiero del Devon, una zona...more
This was original published as serialized letters during World War II. They are written from one childhood friend, Henrietta, who is married and living in Devonshire, to another, Robert, who is on the front lines. Henrietta paints a sweet picture of the Devonshire community where she lives. She tells him about how the war is affecting them and about the causes everyone is taking up in the war effort.
It reminded me a bit of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It shows what happens to...more
It reminded me a bit of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It shows what happens to...more
Henrietta's War is a sweet collection of letters written from perfectly average Henrietta Brown, to her childhood friend Robert, who is fighting on the front lines in France. She describes in vivid detail, and with charming cartoonish illustrations, daily life in war torn rural Britain. I was surprised to find that Henrietta and the other extraordinary characters she writes about are fictional, that this book is actually a compilation of stories written in letter form and published weekly in Ske...more
Wow--four and half stars, and that's just because for me, five star ratings tend to go to EB White, Austen, and Tolstoy . . . . I think this is just about perfect for a book of its kind.
A sort of Daddy-Long-Legs style in that it consists of letters written by Henrietta, a married woman who lives on the English coast as W.W. II begins, to her "Childhood Friend," who is on active duty in France. Initially published during the war as a series in a newspaper (perhaps every two weeks or so; I'm not c...more
A sort of Daddy-Long-Legs style in that it consists of letters written by Henrietta, a married woman who lives on the English coast as W.W. II begins, to her "Childhood Friend," who is on active duty in France. Initially published during the war as a series in a newspaper (perhaps every two weeks or so; I'm not c...more
Written during World War II and published in a magazine, these letters to a fictional "Robert" depict life in a small Devonshire village, as the residents learn to live with rationing, an influx of refugees from London, their own fears and petty bickering, and much, much more. Henrietta, a doctor's wife, and her friends Lady B. and Faith try to be brave and (in divorcee Faith's case) ornamental, to get as much pleasure from their restricted life as they can, and above all to do their duty. This...more
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This book was written in the form of Henrietta Brown's letters to her childhood friend Robert, fighting at the front. Funny story about a couple of people feeling the war's weight upon their shoulders and taking themselves very seriously, while nothing much happens in their Devonshire village and the real action takes place in and around London. Although the letters appeared serially in a newspaper during World War II, this collection of letters, under the name of Henrietta's War, wasnot publish...more
Set at the beginning of World War 2, this book is a series of letters between Henrietta, a doctor's wife, and her childhood friend Robert, who is off in France, fighting. Henrietta lives in a village in Devon, and describes the preparation for a potential invasion in all their quirks and absurdities. We hear about the local characters and gossip, as well as some of Henrietta's well intentioned deeds that sometimes go terribly awry. Her stories cover everything from covering the windows with fabr...more
I ordered this from amazon on a spree in good faith and was then dismayed when it arrived, to find it a rather slimmer volume than I had anticipated, and peppered with childish little illustrations. However, I decided to persevere; you should, as the old cliché goes, never judge a book by its cover. I was not disappointed.
The whole book was in epistolary form, and through Henrietta’s letters to her childhood friend Charles at the front in France during the second world war, the reader learns no...more
The whole book was in epistolary form, and through Henrietta’s letters to her childhood friend Charles at the front in France during the second world war, the reader learns no...more
The Henrietta letters were originally published in Sketch magazine. Written by Joyce Dennys, who life as a village doctor's wife mirrored her own, the letters were intended to remind the troops of life at home, and also to give Londoners a glimpse of life outside the city. They were very popular, and continued throughout the war. I wish I could read all of them, but those published in this slender volume, and it's sequel, Henrietta Sees It Through, represent only a sampling of the letters.
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Apr 19, 2010
Christy
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With Britain under imminent threat of German bombings and a possible sea invasion, a vague and anxious doctor's wife, Henrietta, takes solace in writing to her soldier friend Robert with humorous anecdotes about wartime on the home front. And how do they keep up their morale? They write angry letters to Hitler, celebrate bomb drills and sirens, risk wearing pants, and dig for victory! A sketch comedy which blends charm with the real sense of helplessness and fear war provokes in those left behin...more
I was captivated by this book - it recounts a woman's experience of war on the Home Front in a rural part of Britain, through the letters she writes to an old friend who is away fighting. Henrietta, who comes across as a slightly eccentric figure, describes her neighbours in a funny, charming way, and while the war never quite reaches Devon properly, she talks about evacuees, the blackout and rationing in a really endearing way. I can only imagine what the recipient of the letters would have tho...more
Lovely little book on the lines of Diary of a Provincial Lady, but set during war time. Henrietta writes and illustrates letters to her "childhood friend" Robert, full of warm and gossipy anecdotes about village life in Devon during the war. Forced to be cheerful so as to keep the soldier's morale up, Henrietta steers clear of violence and gore, even as her life is spared the horrors of war. But the psychological effects of being cooped up in a war-time country spare nobody, and the letters inad...more
Delightful classic English village humor. Think Angela Thirkell without the nastiness, snobbery, and tendency to run on. Agatha Cristie without the body in the library.
If you need something to help you cope with the sheer awfulness of life today--and the pervasive corrosive cynicism--this will do nicely.
If you need something to help you cope with the sheer awfulness of life today--and the pervasive corrosive cynicism--this will do nicely.
A charming little book. While I truly love books about the homfront during WWII, and so knew that I would like this, it's the voice of this one that makes it special. Such a darling, heartfelt voice! The characters are lifelike and wonderful, and I found myself moved by some of Lady B's words in particular. I truly enjoyed every word of this one.
This book is an account of Joyce's own experiences during World War II when living in an Devonshire village. It had one laugh out loud moment after another. I highly recommend it for everyone, but particularly fans of Diary of a Provincial Lady, of which it reminded me often.
Great group of articles written as letters (News from the Home Front 1939-1942)that were published as a feature in a glossy magazine in England. They are a comic representation of life in a small seaside English village during the war and thelife of the villagers. It is very compeling reading, and that from someone who does not like short stories!
My only issue with this book is why it only covers 1939-1942! There were three more war years where Joyce Dennys wrote her column. Which is to say, I LOVED THIS and was sad it was so short. READ IT.
The cover looks and feels gorgeous too, which is always a plus.
The cover looks and feels gorgeous too, which is always a plus.
Very much like the Mrs. Tim books. In fact, Mrs. Tim of the Regiment is being published as part of The Bloomsbury Group. I enjoyed this description of English life during WWII. Just the thing to help pass the time in an afternoon of 110 degree heat!
An absolutely delightful book. Henrietta's light-hearted look at war time situations and deprivations will make you laugh in spite of yourself! The writing is reminiscent of Three Men in a Boat or The Diary of a Nobody. Fun, fun and fun!
Reminds me of Cranford. Same great small-town vignettes, same likeable characters bickering at each other, same general Englishness. (Or what I imagine to be Englishness, consisting of much Stiff Upper Lipping and occasional marmalade.)
Lovely book outlining life in a small English village during WWII. Written in the form of letters to a dear friend on the front, Henrietta makes every effort to speak of homey topics and village gossip. Originally written as magazine articles, this compilation is a snapshot into a by gone age of rural English life.
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“To have visitors during a Day in Bed is a grave error. It means getting out to do your hair, make up your face, and have your bed made. A little talk on the telephone with some sympathetic friend who is really interested in your symptoms is the only social intercourse that should be allowed. A good deal of pleasure can be derived from asking for your fountain-pen and notepaper, and then not writing any letters.”
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