Vera Brittain: The Story of the Woman Who Wrote Testament of Youth

by Hilary Bailey

Cover worn, page edges tanned. Shipped from the U.K. All orders received before 3pm sent that weekday.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction

117 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 1987

About the author

Hilary Bailey was a British writer, critic and editor.

Reviews

[Igenlode Wordsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slim volume in the "Lives of Modern Women" commissioned as a series about "women whose ideas struggles and creative talents have made a significant contribution to the way we think and live now" - I was a bit taken aback to find that the author has chosen to end her biography thirty years before the death of her subject, and indeed before the events of the final volume of Brittain's own autobiography. Possibly because this was conceived as being the story of the writing of Testament of Youth, rather than of Vera Brittain as such?
I was also surprised that the acknowledgements credit the assistance of a fellow author who was also writing a biography of his own which was imminently to be published; the scenario would seem a little awkward, if not superfluous.
However, the book is clearly and sympathetically written, in a brisk but evocative canter through the first forty years or so of Brittain's career which covers (and occasionally clarifies or questions) the events of "Testament of Youth", and a good deal more besides that is less widely known. It was a quick read, and a welcome one.

[CanadianReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief but still enlightening biographical account of the life of Vera Brittain, author of Testament of Youth, Bailey's discussion focuses on the key experiences in the feminist/pacifist's life--the emotional trauma of her losses of fiance and brother in World War I--without lapsing into hagiography. Bailey paints Brittain as decisive and action oriented but doesn't fail to suggest her vanity and, at times, egotism.