Girl from Station X: My Mother's Unknown Life

by Elisa Segrave

“A typical day on the 4 to 12 shift, as I am at present, so that the sheer agony of it may be placed on record for me to look back on, perhaps one day in the far distant future when this period may be seen like a nightmare and be mercifully semi-observed in oblivion so that I shall remember only the glory of my position as the first and only woman on the watch and holding the most responsible position of any woman in the Hut.” October 12th 1942.

As Anne Segrave approached old age and infirmity, her daughter Elisa was faced with the daunting task of sorting through her mother’s belongings. She was aware of several elements of Anne’s past, but she was astonished to find evidence of an altogether different life when she uncovered a cache of wartime diaries. Now, on the pages before her, Segrave encountered a young woman who put the world of finishing schools and hunt balls behind her to embark on a journey that took her to Bletchley Park, Bomber Command and, eventually, a newly liberated Germany.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Memoir, World War II

368 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2013

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won my copy through Goodreads Giveaways!

I have been drafting this review in my head for over a week, because like a slow, excruciating torture chamber, this book had me choking on frustration and begging for the end. I felt so betrayed by the book description and the jacket cover! I thought this was going to be real look at what life was like during WWII in England; the story of an upper class young woman helping in the war effort and how her daughter later understood her better through reading her diaries. Sounds like a good premise for a book, right?

This book read more like a first draft of an idea Ms. Segrave had while reading her mother's diaries. But before I go into everything I disliked about this book, I will credit Segrave for finishing this book and finding a publisher. I, unfortunately, have the experience of receiving a pile of paper from an aspiring writer with the command "Fix this," and being at a complete loss for words as I amaze at the effort it took to write a bunch of gibberish and believe it is the next Pulitzer Prize winner. Kudos, to her editors and those patient enough to help organize this into something moderately coherent.

Now on to the review:

Segrave essentially recounts her life. This is her autobiography with her mother's biography thrown in the middle. Segrave continuously bemoans her childhood as being one without the affection of a mother once her younger brother, Raymond, dies; and she grows up into an adult continuously bemoaning having a less than ideal childhood despite being cared for lovingly by a nanny, grandmother, father, and other relatives. I was quickly worn out from Segrave's constantly hurt feelings from every perceived slight from her mother, and she seems to recount EVERY one. Imagine reading a continuous diatribe of a person complaining. With a few brief moments of "huh, maybe she had a point," and "I love my children," most of Segrave's comments are complaints about her life and labeling her mother's actions as "selfish" and "childlike" and her describing her father as "loud" and "charging".

I was mostly disappointed in how Segrave presented her mother's diaries. I was hoping for and anticipating an unfiltered account of life during the war - whatever kind of life that may be. But Segrave absolutely ruins it by constantly interjecting her own perceptions and amateur psychoanalysis of her mother's actions, words, and thoughts. The end result, the reader is unable to see and appreciate Anne for herself, in all her stages of life: as an adolescent, young woman, and new mother. Excerpts from the diaries are mere snippets in what must have been a massive amount of original writing, and Segrave thus presents mainly pastoral descriptions and very few snippets of substantive material. I was then left feeling like I was reading a poorly structured English paper commenting on Anne's diaries, but here's the thing: "I HAVE NOT READ THOSE DIARIES AND DO NOT KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE!"

Other frustrating aspects: Segrave constantly refers to people by different names and brings in people not yet introduced, thus confusing the reader. Sentences are often poorly structured so that it is difficult to follow who Segrave is talking about. And the constant judgement on Segrave's part - primarily, she would recount something her mother did or said, and Segrave would then proffer her own VERY biased interpretation of events which all stem from her belief that her mother was "not a good mother" ie. Anne loved women, drank to excess, and frequently traveled away from her young children for pleasure. This goes on throughout the book - Segrave will describe someone's actions, and then she will offer her own opinion about why a person did or said what they did. The reader is thus in a flat literary world - where he or she is not supposed to think and is supposed to simply take Segrave's observations as facts. In the end, Segrave is a very human narrator, and as people tend to do, Segrave complains about the very things she herself is also guilty of (I'm not going to go into the details of every complaint she had, but it was difficult to read so much blatant hypocrisy).

Ultimately, Segrave presents a narrator who is intrinsically part of the story and there is NO hiding it. Part of what makes a story good is the growth and development of characters as the story progresses. Such growth is denied with Segrave due to her constant criticisms of her mother and her own blindside in regards to herself. I could only recommend this book to someone who wants to read Segrave's first hand complaints about her life and her subsequent blame on her childhood for the depression she and her siblings have suffered.

Ehr, Happy Reading ...

[Judi Mckay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my reading group’s selection for October ‘22. Not something I’d usually pick up and i was in two minds about reading it, because I knew I couldn’t make the discussion. But part of being in a reading group is the implied obligation on me to read all the choices, not just the ones I fancy, so i read it. I didn’t enjoy it and half way through, it became one of a small selection of my reads which I have to finish because I have a rule that if I want to complain about or bad-mouth a book. I have to have read it to the end.
On the positive side - it is well written. The author brought the life and times of her mother to life. Apart from that, it felt self indulgent, as if the author was using the writing of the book as therapy. I think the title is misleading because the Station X part is quite brief and the woman in the story always wants to be somewhere other than where she is at that time. I also found her and her lifestyle quite unlikeable. In the end, I really didn’t care about what she did or what happened, I just read on, hoping it would become more interesting. It didn’t.
A posh, spoiled woman’s life story with bits from her diary thrown in. Not my kind of read at all. Sorry.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir was born out of the difficult relationship Elisa had with her mother Anne. When Anne started suffering with dementia probably caused by her alcohol abuse, Elisa was left with the task of clearing the former family home. In the attic she found a box, filled with notebooks; Anne’s diaries written from the age of fifteen.

Anne was the heir to her mother’s fortune which meant that she rubbed shoulders with the elite of England. The pre-war years are filled with travel, finishing schools and seemingly endless parties. The war years tell an entirely different story of a privileged young woman working as a WRAF, including a lengthy stint in intelligence and a posting at Bletchley Park. I found the diaries, especially those written during World War Two really interesting, as Anne documented her daily life as a WRAF, her satisfaction for feeling useful for the first, and only, time in her life. Elisa has cleverly selected enough to give a true sense of the young woman’s first experience of connecting to her colleagues, a very different experience from the cosseted world of her earlier years.

It takes some time though to get to this part, the beginning starts with a seemingly endless litany of how difficult, indecisive and uncaring Elisa’s mother was. The abuse of alcohol, interesting never mentioned by either family or friends, the selfishness of her endless travels and some tragic losses from Elisa’s perspective is the background which makes reading the young woman’s adventures far more poignant.

I received a free copy of the paperback version from Lovereading ahead of the paperback publication in March 2014 in return for my thoughts on this memoir.

The power of this novel is the understanding it gave Elisa about who her mother really was, although at several points her interjections about her mother’s faults led me to believe that perhaps the misunderstandings between this mother and daughter perhaps ran too deep ever to be truly healed.

[Rachel (not currently receiving notifications) Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although, at times, an intriguing and interesting read this book is far from an easy read. The book details two stories, that of daughter looking back at her mothers eventual decline into Alzheimer's and alcoholism resulting from the demise of Segrave's younger brother when she was five, and fragments of the mothers actual diary during her privileged upbringing and a lifetime incorporating her time at Bletchley Park. I am a Bletchley Park fanatic and have read extensively of the work that was carried out there so I was looking forward to the novel.

The elements of wartime Britain are thoroughly detailed and an insightful perspective on the period, yet I learned little new from the memoir that cannot be learned from that the many other books covering this time period. The novel is spoilt for two reasons in my mind, firstly the bitter tone of the daughter and narrator which I found spiteful and self indulgent, and the constant interjections of the daughter throughout the diary entries. It is this constant psychoanalysis which bogged down the book for me and it can at times feel a spiteful read. The time spent covering the period at Station X is also rather limited and this served to further fuel my disappointment along with the constant jumping in the timeframe and multiple characters which fleetingly pass in and out which frankly served to confuse me.

At times this can feel like a depressing book and as if interrupting a therapy session between counsellor and daughter. Although the daughter does partially redeem herself, coming to see her mothers behaviour in a more humane light and developing a growing appreciation and respect for her, this does not make for a comfortable read.

[Meg - A Bookish Affair · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Girls from Station X" is a non-fiction account of a daughter who finds the diaries of her mother. Much of Elisa Segrave's mother's life had been a mystery to Elisa. Her mother never really spoke much about her early life. When Anna develops Alzheimer's disease, it is up to Elisa to figure out what to do with her things. In this book, she tells the story of her mother's diaries and what she found in them. I think diaries are absolutely amazing prime sources of history so I was very excited to read this book.

I've read many books where the author has drawn on diaries that actually existed in order to create a narrative. What's interesting about this book is that Elisa adds a lot of her own analysis of what she thinks her mother is saying in a certain section and what she's leaving out. There is a lot of supposition here, which made the book very choppy at times. The author jumps in different places in the book where she's telling a story about her mother or her children in present day, which made things a little bit confused.

I really liked the glimpses of Elisa's life that we got in this book. Many of her diary entries were written during World War II, which is still one of my very favorite time periods to read about.

Overall, this book has great historical detail.

[Lynn P · Rating 2 out of 5]

The girl from Station X I thought was going to bring alive events at Bletchley Park,perhaps that was my misinterpretation of the wording on the book cover. In fact the picture of Bletchley painted in this book is of a dire place that no-one would wish to work in.
I found this book hard going; the first 60 pages were just a rant about how Elisa didn’t like her Mother. Some of the comments she made about her Mother’s actions I did find hard to relate to, however once she found her Mother’s diary I think Elisa wouldn’t have made those comments.
Once the diary entries began I started to take more of an interest, only to find that they were interspersed with comments from Elisa. The diary entries also seemed to jump around in time and I got confused about where and when the entry referred to.
My interest was waning when my hometown was mentioned. Not a very well known place and unbeknown to me apparently had a wartime base. I began to be engaged again and I was intrigued, unfortunately no real information about it was really shared.
I do love social history and for those small insights into life in this period I was grateful. However, I found most of the book to be ramblings that did not interest me.
Several very well-known people and others I see have praised this book so maybe it will be to your taste, but not sadly to mine.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an amazingly frank depiction of a strained relationship between mother and daughter.

It perhaps told more of the author's character than the mother Anne's in some respects.

The author seems quite obsessed with her mother's sexuality and very bitter at her distance and lack of support during her difficult times.

Anne did indeed come from a very privileged background and her ability to flourish in times of war were testament to her character, but this did not carry through to motherhood.

Overall I felt the book was at times an uncomfortable read and far too long. The war years were by far the best story.

[Diane Fordham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a cross between a memoir, a diary and a biography. I did enjoy it, but I had bought it thinking that it was predominantly about the period that Anne spent at Bletchley Park, though this was only a very small part of the story. The book covers the whole of Anne's life and then more after her death. It was interesting and absorbing, and provided an insight into the world of the British elite in the early part of the century and the period between the first and second world wars. I'm glad that I read it, but it would perhaps not have been my first choice if I had realised that the content was not really as it was described on the cover.

[Jan Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some fascinating incites into the life if a young woman in the 1940s but its takes some considerable effort by the reader to pries these snippets out of the welter of guilt, resentment and at times genuine dislike toward her mother that the writer brings to the mix. The first section (5 chapters)in particular say far more about the author than the 'girl from station x' herself.

I have no problem with that antipathy because there are mother-daughter relationships that are just like that, and a book examining all of that would have been an interesting read. But I had expected the book to reflect the tag line 'My mother's unknown life' and it really did not do that.

Not at all what I expected from the blurb and consequently somewhat disappointing.

[Rosie Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a 2.5 stars from me. I found the narrator judgemental and blinkered which made it very difficult to respond favourably to any members of the family. Interesting snippets about life in the aristocracy and the Bletchley Park section was interesting but not sure this saved it for me.

[Annette O'grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

although i enjoyed the book and found it quite interesting it did take me long time to read

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into a deeply complex lady, her war years especially. However found it sad to see the difficulties her daughter (the author) had with her

[Jane Blumsom · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not for me due to the style of writing and the authors angle/mindset. I didn’t finish the book. On a positive note I liked the title, however it is misleading, and doesn’t deliver.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of the author's mother's life, especially her experiences with British Intelligence during WW2.

[Jane Blumsom]

This book was not for me. Due to the style of writing and the writers mood I didn’t finish the book. On a positive note I like the title, however, it is misleading and doesn’t deliver!

[Tkjtwmr · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read about World War 2 and the effects on the lives of its particpants,

[Alison Cubitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Girl from Station X, the story of a fraught mother-daughter relationship is a brave book, if at times a sad one that is difficult to read.

Elisa Segrave's troubled relationship with her mother came to a head when Elisa's marriage broke down, she had two young children to care for and she got breast cancer. Her mother Anne wasn't there for her at this crucial time and as her mother declined further into dementia, the author found that she could no longer deal with her unreasonable behaviour.

In the process of clearing out her mother's home while she was still alive, Elisa found a collection of Anne's diaries written from the age of 15 until her early 40s. Through the diaries, Elisa sees a whole new side to her mother and one that she comes to admire, particularly her distinguished work during the war years.

Anne is a wonderful diarist and her frank account of her time at Bletchley Park (the 'Station X') of the title makes for fascinating reading. So too does her honesty about the ups and downs of working in such a place, working with eccentrics and that despite the importance and responsibility of her work, at times, it probably was boring and even a bit depressing.

The flow of the diaries is interrupted though by the author's own reaction to what has been written and although that can be a useful device if it's done for explanatory reasons, here it becomes intrusive and too much like a troubled daughter's therapy session. This was the only time in the whole book that Anne's voice could be heard yet every time she lets rip, there is the author analysing and commenting upon what's been written – even if it is merely a youthful outburst in what was, after all, a private diary.

The story of her mother's life is told solely from Elisa's point of view and there is no advocate for Anne, giving her side of the story. Elisa has proof from her mother's diary that she was indeed loved by Anne in her early childhood, until her brother Raymond climbed the fence and drowned in his grandmother's swimming pool. 'My mother was only forty-two when I, my father and my two remaining brothers lost her – to grief.'
It seems sad to me that Anne bears the brunt of her daughter's resentment as the family dysfunction seems to run deeper than one generation and Anne herself might not have been given enough maternal love and affection.

After reading the diaries and understanding the terrible circumstances that Anne faced after losing not just one but two sons to early deaths, Anne is still not able to atone herself for her perceived sins and the longed for redemption and resolution between mother and daughter sadly never happens.

[Vicky-Leigh Sayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd wanted to read this book for some time before it was very kindly sent to me by lovereading (in an exchange for an honest review of course). If I'm honest, it wasn't quite the book that I was expecting it to be, and I was a little disappointed.

Of course I knew it wasn't fiction, but I love reading about historical times, whether fictional or not and I was keen to discover more about Bletchey Park from someone who had actually worked there during the Second World War.

Unfortunately less than half of the book is dedicated to the 'wartime diaries' of Anne-Hamilton Grace, and it is much more focused on Elisa's troubled relationship with her Mother. We learn that the only reason she stumbles across the diaries is due to clearing the former family home as her Mother begins to suffer with dementia caused by Alcoholism (according to Elisa).

Through her diaries we follow Anne Hamilton-Grace from the age of Fifteen, through tales of a privileged upbringing, through the war, to meeting her husband and having her children, right up until her death. In the early stages of her diaries we see Anne as a privileged (perhaps spoilt) young girl with no real aspirations or ambitions. She loves to travel, and has the luxury of being able to do so due to her wealth.

Despite her status Anne is not afraid to get involved in the war effort and as WW2 breaks out signs up to the WRAF. For me these were the most interesting of Anne's diaries, during the War, and the main reason I wanted to read the book in the first place.

I do find that Elisa jumps forward and back quite a lot of the time with the diaries, which is a little annoying at times, but I suppose she is trying to get things across from her point of view even thought it is her mother's memoirs that she is writing.

The war time section of the book unfortunately seemed to disappear in a flash, and it was back to Elisa's ramblings again with little input from the Mother. I did find the book interesing, but I think perhaps a little more emphasis could have been placed on the actual diaries themselves rather than Elisa's opinions on every little thing, particularly when she has such a poor relationship with her mother.

Overall, the book was interesting, but I'm not sure I would have managed to get to the end without the wartime diaries.

[Gavin · Rating 1 out of 5]

From my review blog:

https://themoustachioedreader.wordpre...

I’ll be honest, I did not enjoy this book at all. Heck, I didn’t even like it. The sleeve notes hinted at a wartime tale worth telling yet, for me, it was a dull and frustrating read.

This book was real challenge. I had to force myself to pick it up and read it, often wishing I could throw it to one side and forget it.

The first parts, around 1/3 of the book, cover the childhood and pre-war years of the authors’ mother Anne, the “girl” in the story. Told through Anne’s diaries and with the addition of the authors’ descriptions, thoughts and explanations, it describes the life between both world wars of a rich girl in a large house with servants and nannies. A cast of characters are introduced each with various nicknames and titles, some only appearing briefly, and they confused the tale for me.

Anne is one of the most annoying people I have read about and, for me was without any redeeming features. I soon came to dislike her and did not care about her or any other person in the book.

As the Second World War begins, I wanted the story to improve. Despite joining the war effort as a WAAF and going on to work at Bletchley Park, Anne is still an unlikable character. For me this was highlighted by her taking over two months off sick, yet she still socialised, went shopping and partied during this time – and then complained at another girl being off ill! Anne falls in and out of love with various men and women, we learn a little of her work on wartime operations but nothing in the story grabbed me.

Post war, we learn about Anne’s life abroad and of the authors’ own childhood. But, regrettably, I had long since ceased to care.

The author tells us that she spent many years disliking her mother; I can understand a little as to why.

The-Mustachioed-Reader

My Rating: 0.0* out of 5.0*

[James Flack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am conflicted by my thoughts on this book. I have read many books about Bletchley Park and codebreakers - I was hoping for another insight into this fascinating area of WW2 and what was the foundation of modern computing - I didn't get that, so what did I get?

I got a book about what I initially thought quite frankly was some spoilt brat who lived a life of luxury and what was this to do with what I was looking to read about. As a result I found it difficult to read about Anne's pre-war life, I wasn't really interested.. and I skipped bits of it altogether (but that probably says more about me than the subject), until the war years came round. That soon changed and I found the remainder of the book very interesting watching Elisa's mother come of age a bit during the war including her time at Bletchley and around the other positions she held, and get a feel for what she thought in what was a well written book. I didn't always like what Anne said via her daughter but it was a very interesting read.

From that moving on to the part of the book where Elisa appears and grows up was also very interesting, I guess by this time I was invested in how this would turn out, though there are clues throughout and how ultimately the tragedies in this period probably shaped the rest of Anne's life.

So from an initial sense of frustration and dislike of the book, I persisted and eventually found a well thought out and well written book by a daughter looking for answers about her mother's life, and finding a few surprises along the way, and a differing view of Anne as the book progressed, and I'm glad I chose to finish it.

[Jackie Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written largely from her mother’s personal diaries, this book provides an interesting account of a privileged young woman’s life before, during and after the Second World War. It is, however, much more than just a memoir. It is obvious from the beginning that the author has issues with the way her mother treated her throughout her life. The book provides a sometimes brutally raw account of complex family relationships over several generations, and the fallout that these generate.

The book quotes extensively and directly from the diaries, interspersing these passages with the author’s opinions. Although adding authenticity to the unfolding tale, I found this approach quite difficult to engage with at times. The chapters covering the war years in particular contain a great deal of detail about intelligence processing, battles and strategies as well as the day to day lives of those involved.

We are introduced to many people, making it hard at times to remember their relevance. The author jumps back and forth between the time being covered by the diaries and later times that she can recall. My impression was that she is justifying her personal resentments as much as telling her mother’s life story.

A protagonist finding strength in adversity is a common enough theme, and the story does cover how the author’s mother rose to the challenge of the war. It is rare, however, to read a memoir that does not attempt to tug at the heartstrings, but provides such an honest study of human weaknesses.

I was provided with a copy of this book to review by Lovereading.co.uk

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that excited as I was when I first picked up this book it was a tale that I had to put down several times before I could get to the end. The story, while interesting, was written in a very choppy and almost one-sided way. Anne was the author of the diaries but it was Elisa who chose the excerpts to be shared and interjected her own interpretation of what was written a little bit too much (IMO). I am not sure that the diaries, as written, would be interesting enough on their own for someone who did not know Anne personally but the opinions expressed by Elisa seemed to be meant to show her mother in the most negative way possible. Bitterness oozes from every page. I was hoping for more in the way of London during war-time and information about what Bletchy was all about (that was left for Google).

Although there can never be a reconciliation between them (Anne passed away in 2003) I thought that the story did end with a small tinge of hope that there could eventually be forgiveness. Writing the book does seem to have given Elisa, at the very least, a more complete picture of who Anne actually was before she became the self-centred, alcoholic, grieving mother that she was more familiar with.

[Riki Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an advanced paperback copy of the book that I received via lovereading.co.uk in return for an honest review of the book and on condition I share on various platforms.

The Girl from Station X is a book that chronicles the life, loves, trials and tribulations of Elisa's mother through the written diaries of a young woman born during the First World War, growing up in peacetime, working throughout World War Two and being a 30 something mother in the aftermath of WWII. It chronicles not only her mother's journeys around the world in her youth, during the war and when her children are born but also Elisa's emotional journey throughout her childhood dealing with alcoholism of her parents and in her mother's declining years when Alzheimer's has taken her mother away from her mentally.

The author has a very strained relationship with her mother due to family tragedies in which she loses not only two of her siblings (at different times during her life) but also her mother to her memories of her siblings. This book is well-written, researched and presented to the reader in a chronological and easy to read manner. It deals with very difficult emotions and topics such as bereavement, death, mental illness and alcoholism.

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was sent this book to review by Lovereading.co.uk. It is due for publication on 15 March 2014.

From the cover of this book I expected it to be largely about one young woman’s experiences working at Bletchley Park during the second world war. As this is a subject I’m interested in I was greatly looking forward to reading it. However, though some of the book is devoted to Bletchley Park, the bulk of it deals with the author’s very difficult relationship with her mother, alcoholism, dementia and the deaths of children. Rather than being a history book it should more correctly sit in the category that WH Smith’s shops used to call “Real Tragic Lives”.

It’s an unremittingly sad book about a wasted life and it made me wonder its subject would have felt had she known that her life was to be picked over and exposed to the scrutiny of strangers. I found it an uncomfortable read and not one I would have chosen had I not been misled by the cover. At some level everyone has a strange and upsetting family life and I personally don’t feel the need to read about the problems of others. I’m with Peter Cook when he said he didn’t feel the need to see plays about difficult subjects as “I can get all that at home”.

[Edel Waugh Salisbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Girl From Station X was a very interesting look into a mother's life through the eyes of her daughter and the diaries that she had written. We get to see Anne during many stages of her life and she experienced a lot that made interesting reading. I had been to a lot of the places mentioned in the book so reading this was extra special for me being able to picture where she was .
Anne travelled a lot in her life and had a very interesting work life in the famous Bletchley , she enjoyed life and family and friends but seemed to be a woman of many contradictions. Tragedy and illness were to touch Anne's life and it was sad reading about those moments but it gave me a very full view of a life from being a young woman to when she got older. Elisa's struggles with her mothers behaviour, and the lack of love she received from her come across very strongly and they have remained with me long after I have finished this book.



I kindly received this book from Lovereading.co.uk for review. You can find this book on their website below .This will be available for purchase from March 2014 on Lovereading.co.uk and all other good bookstores.

[Maryline M's Bookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was first published at M's Bookshelf - http://mssbookshelf.blogspot.be

The Girl from Station X tells the story of a young woman who's life was forever changed by the War. She went from being a "spoiled rich girl" to someone who actively worked for her country... while struggling to find herself. But it's not just another story about the War. By using quotes from her mother's diary and adding additional information, Elisa gave us a new, original sneak peek into the past. I loved how she made the story fluent by 'talking together' those diary quotes.
Unfortunately though, the story never really captivated me. Elisa's relationship with her mother isn't a very good one, and although I understand that she was struggling to connect with her mother and that she now found a new way to get to know her - through her diaries, their relationship often stood in the way of her mother's story about her youth. Too often I felt Elisa was trying to justify her frustrations with her mother and it came across as 'bitter', in a way... Luckily this was mostly the case for the first part of the book and it really was a fascinating 'snapshot'.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read a memoir before, and didn't know what to expect - I was however surprised at the personal tone and touching honesty that was carried through the novel to the very last page. We travel with the author through heart-wrenching difficulties faced from both her perspective and her mother's, displaying emotions both at the time of the events and in retrospect.

The reader also gets a sense that they are taking a personal journey with the author as she learns about the 'hidden' life she never expected of the woman who treats her so coldly now. There is a sense of a harmonious union that the two women could never achieve in life in the interweaving of Anne's diary and of Eliza's, displaying diary writing as a common feature.

One sentence in particular struck me:

'As to religion for heavens sake don't parade it but if you work up to the idea of trying to make everyone a little happier because of your presence in this world you won't be far wrong'.

- a philosophy we should all endeavour to undertake.

This is a touching story of a mother's life and experiences and a daughter coming to terms with them - highly recommendable!

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The back of this book states that Elisa Segrave found a cache of wartime diaries belonging to her mother Anne Hamilton Grace.
After reading the back of the book, I was eager to review this book as I was looking forward to finding out more about life at Bletchley Park during World War 2. I know the back of the book states that “Segrave attempts to recreate her mother’s life before and after the war”, it was, however still disappointing to discover that it was page 103 before there is any mention of Anne Hamilton-Grace’s involvement in the war and unfortunately the war period ended on page 250. Prior to this, the first 102 pages of the book were dedicated to Elisa Segrave recounting her mother’s early and very privileged life and then the rest of the book (pages 251 – 355) is then devoted to her very privileged life after the war.
I was rather disappointed to find a book whose title suggested it was about the war dedicated so few pages (less than half of the book) to the war.
I cannot say the book gripped me but there were parts that interested me. I would definitely recommend this book if you are interested in social history but don’t buy it if your interest is World War 2.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book about Bletchley Park look elsewhere. 'The Girl From Station X's' whole time at Bletchley is covered by one chapter in this book (and most of that time she's using sick leave to go out with friends). The author doesn't even seem that familiar with the place. The short summary of the work they did there seemed wrong to me. If I was cynical I would suggest that the title was just an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Bletchley Park.

I could go on for ages about everything that is wrong with this book and the two main people portrayed but I was told about a review that summarised it in one sentence - "a nasty book by a nasty woman about her nasty mother". I couldn't agree more.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book free as a Goodreads giveaway, and my first thought was "oh no, not another Alzheimer's book". I had just finished and reviewed "Remember Joan, an Alzheimer's Story", and am living my own Alzheimer's story with my mother. That aside, I have to say it is NOT an Alzheimer's story, it is a beautiful and most interesting story of a brave woman who battled through life, war, joy and disappointments. Of course she made mistakes, and sadly affected her children. Elisa found peace and understanding of her mother, too late perhaps since Anne was being ravaged by alcoholism and Alzheimer's. A wonderful book. Highly recommended.