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Mrs. Miniver

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 327 ratings · 64 reviews

As a best-selling book and an Academy Award-winning movie. Mrs. Miniver's adventures have charmed millions. This edition features an additional short piece by Struther titled "Mrs. Miniver Makes a List," published in "The Queen's Book of the Red Cross," for Christmas 1939.

Hardcover, 298 pages

Published 1942 by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York (first published 1939)

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Apr 26, 2008 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: historicals

I love popping into a person's life through a book and then popping back out. Mrs. Miniver lives a middle class life in England (Kent is where her second home is) with her husband and three children right before World War 11 breaks out. The reader gets to see and understand how Mrs. Miniver (as she is called throughout most of the book) thinks and deals with her pretty much typical life. Don't expect action, adventure, thrills or chills in this one. But do expect to be privy to how a seemingly a...more

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Feb 20, 2009 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Heidi by: Jane Brocket

Shelves: classics

This book is a jewel, a masterpiece of language and characterization. I've never seen the movie, and I'd never heard of the book until I read a review in The Gentle Art of Domesticity. I read it slowly in order to relish every chapter. And then I gave it back to the library before writing down some of the spot-on observations. Here are just a couple I can remember (but not quote perfectly):

* One of the benefits of marriage is having someone's eye to catch at the right moment.

* Being friends with...more

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Sep 26, 2010 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I really can't believe I haven't read this book before now. What was I thinking? For me, this was a little piece of book-heaven. Every new vignette hit home for me in a different way. Chapter one, was probably my favorite. It perfectly expressed my love of fall for me. I even copied it entire into my quotes journal. In another lifetime, I could've been Mrs. Miniver. Loved it!

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Mar 21, 2013 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, world-war-2

Oh how I love reading about everyday people in Britain during WWII. The fact that there is so much material out there means I’m not alone. This book is in no way about action or adventure of war. Instead it is overflowing with observations about human nature that were amazingly accurate - the kind of thing that you never thought of before but once put into words you realize that so many feelings and actions are universal to the human race. Mrs. Miniver musings include trying to put words to the...more

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Dec 31, 2011 L. rated it 1 of 5 stars

A bland story about a bland woman and her bland life despite the time being one of the most emotionally explosive of the past one hundred years. There's absolutely nothing to it. Nothing exciting, or mysterious, or tragic is going on unless you want to count a dismal dinner party. (And no, I don't want to count a dismal dinner party.)

The Minivers have three fine and healthy children. They live a somewhat affluent life; enough to afford a vacation home and weekend trips to the country. It's all L...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Mandolin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-inventory

Snippets of every day life in the years preceding World War II are captured in the most charming way in this little book. A collection of short stories and essays written by the fictional Miss Miniver, the book has neither plot nor fully developed characters (except for Mrs. Miniver herself) and yet it fulfills that one basic requirement of great literature: it leaves an impression on the mind that lasts long after the final page has been turned. Mrs. Miniver's musings on life, family, love, hap...more Snippets of every day life in the years preceding World War II are captured in the most charming way in this little book. A collection of short stories and essays written by the fictional Miss Miniver, the book has neither plot nor fully developed characters (except for Mrs. Miniver herself) and yet it fulfills that one basic requirement of great literature: it leaves an impression on the mind that lasts long after the final page has been turned. Mrs. Miniver's musings on life, family, love, happiness and society all serve to underscore some basic truth that is often taken for granted, expressing them in a way that touches the reader's heart and reminds her ever so gently of how very fragile the treasures of this life can be. Poignant and insightful, Mrs. Miniver's observations are couched in thoroughly beautiful prose that elicits a deep feeling of connection and understanding, even today. I can't do the book justice and trust my favorite quotes to highlight just how very touching the book, at its best, can be.

"Clem caught her eye across the table. It seemed to her sometimes that the most important thing about marriage was not a home or children or a remedy against sin, but simply there being always an eye to catch."

"Outside the air was delicious. She could feel it stroking her face...but there was no sensation of either warmth or chill....on certain days, and this was one of them, the barriers were down. She felt as though she and the outside world could mingle...as though she was not entirely contained in her own body but was part also of every other person in the street; and, for that matter, of the thrush singing on a tree...the cat stepping delicately across Buckingham Palace Road. This was the real meaning of peace...an active consciousness of unity..."

"She was every relationship as a pair of intersecting circles. The more they intersected, it would seem at first glance, the better the relationship; but this is not so. Beyond a certain point, the law of diminishing returns sets in, and there aren't enough private resources left on either side to enrich the life that is shared. Probably perfection is reached when the area of the two outer crescents, added together, is exactly equal to that of the leaf-shaped piece in the middle."

"...you cannot successfully navigate the future unless you keep always framed beside it a small clear image of the past."

"This was the cream of marriage, this nightly turning out of the day's pocketful of memories, this deft habitual sharing of two pairs of eyes, two pairs of ears."

"...at least one daughter in every generation ought to remain unmarried, raise the profession of auntship to a fine art, and make a point of having a house within the five mile limit..."

(less)

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Jan 25, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa by: Virago Reading Week Challenge

Shelves: 20th-century, britain, fiction

My copy of Mrs Miniver is an original wartime edition of this famous little book, which began life as a puff-piece in The Times but when war came the story grew to become the voice of stoic Britain. The cover is austerity brown paper, there are no pictures – only text – on the front and back covers, and the pages are speckled with age. It feels like the very book that my mother would surely have read.

The Minivers are from the ‘professional classes’. There’s a boy at Eton, daddy is an architect....more

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Sep 07, 2011 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think Mrs. Miniver becomes one of those characters in fiction, that, like Sherlock Holmes, readers can't quite believe is not real, or at least never lived. Although some stories are loosely based on incidents in Jan Sturther's own life, this is a charming work of fiction that rings very true indeed. It is no wonder that upon its appearance it was so instantly popular. With honesty and gentle humour, Jan Struther examines the everyday occupations of an upper class wife and mother in an England...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Ann-Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mrs. Miniver is perhaps the best-humored housewife ever. Each chapter is a vignette of a certain “more remarkable” moment in her life, which is carefully observed and which prompts reflections that are sometimes funny, sometimes profound. (Happily married and well off, she has good reason to be good humored, and with a cook, a parlor maid, and a nanny to look after the children, she has ample opportunity to reflect.) The weather and the changing seasons also provide touchstones for reflection.
...more

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Apr 06, 2009 Sally marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I LOVE the movie!!! It was one of mom's favorites. I still remember the first time I watched the movie with my mom when it was on TV (many, many years ago). I recently bought the book (at half.com) and it is currently in the ever-growing pile by my bedside. Some other movies from that era that my mom considered "must sees" included: "Ben Hur" (currently reading the book), "The Best Years of Our Lives", "El Cid", "How Green Was My Valley" (LOVE this book,too), "Lilies of the Field", "Pride of the...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Melee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cuppa-english-tea, wishlist

I had no idea that this wasn't a straight novel but rather a collection of short stories that were published in a newspaper years ago. It doesn't really matter, though, because I absolutely loved it. There was a smile plastered on my face practically the whole time I was reading it. The whole thing was full of insights and thoughts I wanted to write down. Mrs. Miniver is a kindred spirit, I think.

Something about these stories reminded me of Bess Streeter Aldrich's stories. Not the plots, but the...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Lisa Anderson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had seen the movie as a teen in the early 1960s when we were crazy for the Beatles and all things British. Even though the film was set in WWII it was still England! A year after I had seen the movie I found a copy of the book in a used bookstore and bought it and was surprised to find it was a compilation of short stories--actually newspaper columns. Liked the book a lot and still own it and re-read it about once a year. I've since read about the author and the scandals that surrounded her--t...more

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Mar 15, 2013 HenriettaBird rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Excellent although I HUGELY wanted it to continue into the war.

The book draws you in as you grow to know Mrs Miniver and I would have loved it to be double the length.

A very good read for anyone interested in 1930s Britain. They say it went down so well in the US that it hastened the USA's entry into WW2. Certainly it is a lovely example of calm British pluck and is full of great insight.

If you are looking for action, set pieces and will they won't they endings, this is not the book for you. Se...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Elisabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, world-war-ii, favorites

What may come as a surprise to those who are familiar with the beloved 1942 film adaptation is that Mrs. Miniver is not really about World War II. But it's one of the loveliest pieces of writing you'll find anywhere. It's not a novel but a collection of short stories, originally published in the Times. I originally supposed that the filmmakers must have drawn different incidents from the stories and woven them together into a plot for the movie, but there is far less connection than that. I'd sa...more What may come as a surprise to those who are familiar with the beloved 1942 film adaptation is that Mrs. Miniver is not really about World War II. But it's one of the loveliest pieces of writing you'll find anywhere. It's not a novel but a collection of short stories, originally published in the Times. I originally supposed that the filmmakers must have drawn different incidents from the stories and woven them together into a plot for the movie, but there is far less connection than that. I'd say they took the characters of the Miniver family and wrote an original story for them. The family is much the same in the book, with the notable exception of oldest son Vin, who is not college-age but in his early teens.

The stories are beautiful little vignettes of daily life, each capturing through Mrs. Miniver's observant eyes a day, an incident, a moment, in writing that can be savored as she savors each experience. Everyday things become like a simple flower under a magnifying glass, revealing unexpected detail and beauty. As Mrs. Miniver herself muses, "Words were the only net to catch a mood, the only sure weapon against oblivion." When you think about it, that sentence pretty much encapsulates a writer's task—to craft the net of words that catches thoughts and feelings and display them to the reader; who recognizes them, but may not have been able to put such feelings into words themselves. In Mrs. Miniver author Jan Struther succeeds marvelously at this task.

The imminence of war does make itself felt in the second half of the book, though only the very last chapter is set after war is declared. Under this atmostphere Mrs. Miniver's ponderings have a slightly bleaker tone in certain stories. Particularly telling, I thought, was a reference to Guy Fawkes' Day that seemed in sharp contrast to the picture of that celebration in an earlier story. Yet she remains attentive to the beautiful as well as the painful moments of lives lived in difficult times. A passage in the final chapter, which is written in the form of a letter, particularly appealed to me as a student of history, as Mrs. Miniver muses over what it would be like to have ways of exactly recalling people's feelings and attitudes during momentous events. "The nearest approach to them, I think, are the poems and articles—and even the letters and chance phrases—which are struck out of people like sparks at such moments as this. So write all the letters you can, Susan, please (to me, if you feel like it, but at any rate to somebody), and keep all the ones you get, and put down somewhere, too, everything you see or hear which will help later on to recapture the spirit of this tragic, marvellous, and eye-opening time: so that, having recaptured it, we can use it for better ends."

This one falls among the number of library books that you wish didn't have to go back. Highly recommended!(less)

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Sep 28, 2010 Ruth Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

I remembered seeing this film several years ago, but I couldn't even remember who the star was--I thought it was Bette Davis (It was really Greer Garson). I remembered it being an epic film, but that's all I remembered.

When I picked up this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a shorter book than I had been reading--which was really nice! And the chapters were short. I also liked the setting--England before WWII and during it.

I have to say that I was not exactly enraptured by the story nor...more I remembered seeing this film several years ago, but I couldn't even remember who the star was--I thought it was Bette Davis (It was really Greer Garson). I remembered it being an epic film, but that's all I remembered.

When I picked up this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a shorter book than I had been reading--which was really nice! And the chapters were short. I also liked the setting--England before WWII and during it.

I have to say that I was not exactly enraptured by the story nor the writing style. I discovered later that this book was originally a set of vignettes that appeared in the paper. It suddenly made sense why the chapters seemed disjointed and short. As the reader, I often felt that I was getting just brief glimpses into this family's life, and I did not even understand it sometimes. Until later.

I also discovered the purpose for this book and why it is such endearing classic. It is a picture of a life that used to exist before the War. The main character, Mrs. Miniver, tries to cling to that old life where everyone lived a life of comfort and enjoyed the simple things of life. Mrs. Miniver is indeed the round character in this book--probably because the story is essentially told from her perspective. Honestly, I was not familiar with everything she spoke about, and I almost couldn't read the Cockney. But to Mrs. Miniver's credit, she was not afraid of hard work, and she was willing to do everything she could to keep her family happy and together.

I gave this book only 3 stars because I just didn't feel I could get into it like I usually can. I was somewhat disappointed in the story and the fact that I never felt I really knew Mrs. Miniver--that is until the end of the story. My favorite chapter was probably the last chapter because I finally understood why Mrs.Miniver was the way she was. Want to know why? Not saying--read the book.

If you want a quick read that is not too deep and is quite classy, I would recommend this book. Know that there is not a lot of real action or deep emotion in it, but it is a classic after all. I will be watching the movie again very soon. Maybe I'll understand and remember it better. (less)

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Oct 23, 2011 Mona rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 20th-century-lit, britain, literature, small-press-nyrb-persephone-virago

When I was about three-fourths finished with this book, I went online to Goodreads to check what other books Struther had written. Surely there were more adventures featuring the instantly likeable and relatable Mrs. Miniver. Surely Struther had left a wealth of beautiful writing.

Sadly, no. This is the only Mrs. Miniver book. And though Struther did write one other book (or rather, collection of short stories, like this book), it is one of the classic, dark-green cover Virago editions and thus...more When I was about three-fourths finished with this book, I went online to Goodreads to check what other books Struther had written. Surely there were more adventures featuring the instantly likeable and relatable Mrs. Miniver. Surely Struther had left a wealth of beautiful writing.

Sadly, no. This is the only Mrs. Miniver book. And though Struther did write one other book (or rather, collection of short stories, like this book), it is one of the classic, dark-green cover Virago editions and thus will be difficult for me to find. Apparently, Struther did lead a fascinating life and there is a biography. I will have to console myself with that.

This book is bittersweet, not only because it is one of only a few works by a writer with so much promise, but also because it chronicles the wartime life of a woman and her family in Britain in the late 1930s. Some parts are period pieces, relevant only to that time. But many others are timeless - or at least reflect some of the cares and worries we still have today. The passage on the dentist's chair comes to mind:

“For really it was the refinement of civilized cruelty, this spick, span, and ingenious affair of shining leather and gleaming steel, which hoisted you and tilted you and fitted reassuringly into the small of your back and cupped your head tenderly between padded cushions. It ensured for you a more complete muscular relaxation than any armchair that you could buy for your own home: but it left your tormented nerves without even the solace of a counter-irritant. In the old days the victim's attention had at least been distracted by an ache in the back, a crick in the neck, pins and needles in the legs, and the uneasy tickling of plush under the palm. But now, too efficiently suspended between heaven and earth, you were at liberty to concentrate on hell."

Isn't that just spot-on? The entire "chapter" on the dentist experience is priceless. It is just how I always feel when I'm in the chair.

Mrs. Miniver is full of such observant thoughts, about everything from gas masks and politics to the joys of marriage and summer's end. In a time of great violence and destruction, Mrs. Miniver represents a voice of civility. As she says,

"The fact that we are now crusaders needn't blind us to the fact that for a very long time we have been, as Badger would say, echidnas. I can think of a hundred ways already in which the war has 'brought us to our senses.' But it oughtn't to need a war to make a nation paint its kerbstones white, carry rear-lamps on its bicycles, and give all its slum children a holiday in the country. And it oughtn't to need a war to make us talk to each other in buses, and invent our own amusements in the evenings, and live simply, and eat sparingly, and recover the use of our legs, and get up early enough to see the sun rise. However, it has needed one: which is about the severest criticism our civilization could have."

I loved this book. I've heard there is a movie but I have zero desire to watch it. No matter how good that movie may be, I have a strong conviction that the loveliness of this book cannot be conveyed in any way other than in print. I plan on buying a copy of it because I will be rereading it often. (less)

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Jun 30, 2009 Afton Nelson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult

I found Mrs. Miniver to be a serious treat. What a woman! I was confused by the seeming lack of plot until an online search revealed that Mrs. Miniver was a series of columns written for the Times. Over the life of the column, World War II reached Great Britain and Mrs. Miniver's daily details took on more meaning as she and her family dealt with taking first aid classes, taking in children from London and being issued gas masks. I look forward to seeing the movie.

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Mar 26, 2008 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comfort-book

A series of vignettes that capture a woman and her view of her family. This is a woman who weighs the intimacies of family very highly. For her a diary is one of those trivial objects made momentous by its "terrible intimacy", and the dull brown calf one she had first chosen for 3s.9d. would not do, instead she chooses to honor those intimacies in a diary in green lizard at 7s.6d.

"Mrs. Miniver was created when Peter Fleming, brother of Ian, asked Jan to brighten up the Court Page of The Times: h...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Bettie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spring-2011, wwii, women, published-1937

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 26, 2010 Mw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I very much enjoyed the writing of this author in this book.
The movie would lead one to think that there was a defined plot and characters. But the book itself consists of very short sketches of life in 1939 rural England and London. Mrs. M. emerges as a character and the others in relationship to her, but this book is not a "story" per se.

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Apr 23, 2009 Graceann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, essays

Please see my detailed review at Amazon Graceann's "Mrs. Miniver" Review"

Please click that the review was helpful to you at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb!

Nothing at all like the movie, and though I loved the movie, I'm not complaining. I got a much better idea of what makes Mrs. Miniver tick, and I think I'll appreciate the film all the more, even though nothing at all from the book happens to Greer Garson. What I got here was humor, beautiful turns of phrase and a deeper understa...more

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Jun 29, 2009 Helena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anglophiles, fans of Rosamunde Pilcher, folks who enjoy a good domestic novel

Shelves: fiction, wwii-british-home-front

I loved this book. There's no dramatic plot, no huge point to the book, just a series of pleasant domestic vignettes that tell the story of a couple years in Mrs. Miniver's life. Takes place in the late 1930s, just before the war, in London and Kent. It reminds me a bit of Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home, not in subject matter, but in the feel of the story.

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Nov 24, 2008 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a best seller in 1940; I truly envied Mrs. Miniver, life was so simple, she could enjoy the little things and move at a slow pace. She spent lots of time outdoors with her family, sure there was a war going on but she had tons of leisure time with a cook, nanny, maid, etc. and the war didn't seem very immediate in the book. I wish I was Mrs. Miniver.

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Oct 03, 2012 Sharon Zink rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think this is the book that was Winston Churchill's favorite book to come out of World War II. I think that is odd because this book is copyrighted in 1941, and it is very tangential to World War II. It might be called a collection of essays about daily life in England in the early 1940's

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Jan 26, 2009 Liss rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, books-for-the-nightstand

A series of essays told from the perspective of Mrs. Miniver. A woman I would love to meet. Particular favorites include "A pocketful of Pebbles", "Choosing a Doll", "The Eve of the Shoot", "drive to Scotland" and "The Khelim Rug." Though really there isn't a bad essay among them.

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Aug 20, 2012 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, 1940s1950s, all-timefavorites

This is domestic fiction at its best--pithy observations that resonate with you without being sentimental. It's one of those books where you want to write down about half of it in your journal. Although this is set in pre-WWII England, it gives you the same feeling of joyous recognition as something like Little Women or Anne of Green Gables or Cheaper By the Dozen.

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Feb 13, 2013 Becky Vowles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is quite lovely, a collection of scenes from the life of Mrs Miniver and middle class wife and mother in the period directly before the outbreak of WWII. Perfect for any fans of The Diary of a Provincial Lady, and very similar in style and content.

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Mar 30, 2012 Susan Zinner rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sweet portraits of English life in WWII; not related to the movie (as others have noted) other than perhaps very remotely as an English woman and her family struggle to adjust as the war looms nearer...

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Mar 01, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library, whb-book-club, 2011

I read it very quickly and I didn't really feel connected to the book like the others at book club did. I liked it, but there really wasn't a plot per se, just a lot of little stories about this idyllic life of Mrs. M. I don't know if I could live like she did.

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Sep 23, 2010 Owen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mrs. Miniver is a deightful series of short essays written in England during the 1930s and 1940s. I stumbled upon this book after reading a quote from it in another book. A happy discovery. It's sweet and gentle and gives a real glimpse of what life was like in the prewar period. I'd highly recommend it.

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Quotes from Mrs. Miniver

“A single person is a manageable entity, whom you can either make friends with or leave alone. But half of a married couple is not exactly a whole human being: if the marriage is successful it is something a little more than that; if unsuccessful, a little less. In either case, a fresh complication is added to the already intricate business of friendship: as Clem had once remarked, you might as well try to dance a tarantella with a Siamese twin.” — 4 people liked it

“This was the cream of marriage, this nightly turning out of the day's pocketful of memories, this deft habitual sharing of two pairs of eyes, two pairs of ears. It gave you, in a sense, almost a double life: though never, on the other hand, quite a single one.” — 4 people liked it

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