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Housewife, 49 #3
Nella Last in the 1950s: The Further Diaries of Housewife, 49
'I can never understand how the scribbles of such an ordinary person ... can possibly have value.' So wrote Nella Last in her diary on 2 September 1949. Sixty years on, tens of thousands of people have read and enjoyed the first two volumes of her uniquely detailed and moving diaries, written during World War II and its aftermath as part of the Mass Observation project, and the basis for BAFTA-winning drama Housewife 49 starring Victoria Wood (with a follow-up under discussion).
This third compelling volume sees Nella, now in her sixties, writing of what ordinary people felt during those years of growing prosperity in a modernising Britain. Her diary offers a detailed, moving and humorous narrative of daily life at a time that shaped the society we live in today. It is an account that's full of surprises as we learn more about her relationship with 'my husband' (never 'Will') and her fears of nuclear war. Outwardly Nella's life was commonplace; but behind this mask were a penetrating mind and a lively pen. As David Kynaston said on Radio 4, she 'will come to be seen as one of the major twentieth century English diarists.'
This third compelling volume sees Nella, now in her sixties, writing of what ordinary people felt during those years of growing prosperity in a modernising Britain. Her diary offers a detailed, moving and humorous narrative of daily life at a time that shaped the society we live in today. It is an account that's full of surprises as we learn more about her relationship with 'my husband' (never 'Will') and her fears of nuclear war. Outwardly Nella's life was commonplace; but behind this mask were a penetrating mind and a lively pen. As David Kynaston said on Radio 4, she 'will come to be seen as one of the major twentieth century English diarists.'
297 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
25 people are currently reading
478 people want to read
About the author
Nella Last
4 books32 followersNella Last was a wife and mother who wrote up her day-to-day experience of civilian life in the Second World War as part of the Mass-Observation Archive, which was set up by sociologist Charles Madge and anthropologist Tom Harrisson to record ordinary people's views on contemporary events. She was an intelligent woman, who was stifled by her life and repressive marriage in a provincial place. Fortunately, she had two escape routes from depression: her writing and her work with the Women's Volunteer Service. She began the diary in 1937 and kept it up longer than most and writing more than everyone else. It was finally published in 1981. Nella died in 1968, so never lived to see her wartime diaries published.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
September 1, 2012
There are some books where you just know that your life is better for having read them and the set of edited Nella Last diaries are in that category for me. Credit should go to the editors as they had so very, very much material to work with and the reproductions of the original pages show that it wasn't a 'mere' matter of selection - I also wondered whether as Canadian based academics they had struggled with the language given the explanations in the glossary. However, the tour de force is all Nella's. I am so impressed that she could range from philosophical to politics to the nitty gritty of how much things cost and what she had for tea so compellingly and without benefit of interlocutor.
I saved this final volume of Nella Last's diaries for my holiday in West Cumbria and I am glad I did although Nella was always a little ambivalent about Barrow itself (not quite to the extent of Hunter Davies' naughty index entry in one edition of his excellent Good Guide to the Lakes "Dump - see Barrow-in-Furness" You certainly get an impression of what Nella means about the geographical and other isolation of this industrial town (I was amazed at the readiness with which she and Will could visit Coniston with the contemporary transport restrictions), yet she manages to avoid being parochial.
I continue to be startled by how frank some of her thoughts and conversations could be, despite so much evidence of suppressed feelings and the frustrations of her life with Will. I read Alfred Wainwright's biography soon after and found the parallels and differences between Nella's marriage and his unhappy first marriage remarkable. The way in which she writes about her son Cliff, never explicitly acknowledging his homosexuality is fascinating, the sense you get that somewhere in her mind she knows and respects it to the extent that she needs to and no more, and certainly welcomes his friends with a particular enthusiasm. I bristled with indignation for her at his attitude to his background and the way it is represented in press articles about his work, and the way he treats her when he visits, but she's no doormat!
The book moves the story of Nella's life on but to where in particular is not quite clear - a question Nella asks herself in a most un-21st century non-self absorbed way. There are perhaps fewer details of Nella's cleverness in making ends meet although she was clearly worrying about money. I find her husband a fascinating character although I can see why Nella gets so exasperated with him and wonders how much her spirit has been stifled. I remain daunted by her example as a hard worker.
I saved this final volume of Nella Last's diaries for my holiday in West Cumbria and I am glad I did although Nella was always a little ambivalent about Barrow itself (not quite to the extent of Hunter Davies' naughty index entry in one edition of his excellent Good Guide to the Lakes "Dump - see Barrow-in-Furness" You certainly get an impression of what Nella means about the geographical and other isolation of this industrial town (I was amazed at the readiness with which she and Will could visit Coniston with the contemporary transport restrictions), yet she manages to avoid being parochial.
I continue to be startled by how frank some of her thoughts and conversations could be, despite so much evidence of suppressed feelings and the frustrations of her life with Will. I read Alfred Wainwright's biography soon after and found the parallels and differences between Nella's marriage and his unhappy first marriage remarkable. The way in which she writes about her son Cliff, never explicitly acknowledging his homosexuality is fascinating, the sense you get that somewhere in her mind she knows and respects it to the extent that she needs to and no more, and certainly welcomes his friends with a particular enthusiasm. I bristled with indignation for her at his attitude to his background and the way it is represented in press articles about his work, and the way he treats her when he visits, but she's no doormat!
The book moves the story of Nella's life on but to where in particular is not quite clear - a question Nella asks herself in a most un-21st century non-self absorbed way. There are perhaps fewer details of Nella's cleverness in making ends meet although she was clearly worrying about money. I find her husband a fascinating character although I can see why Nella gets so exasperated with him and wonders how much her spirit has been stifled. I remain daunted by her example as a hard worker.
March 20, 2016
The last of the Nella Lasts to date. Woe is me, I've read them all, but as these are true-life diaries they repay re-reading. Nella is enjoyable as always, with her observations of human nature, the changes in the world that surrounds her, etc. Things are sadder for her as she struggles to adjust to postwar life--a problem shared by many women of her generation. They felt so needed and useful during the war years, and were able to step out of traditional "wife and mother" roles into a larger sphere--only to be stuffed back in their boxes after the conflict was over and men wanted to resume the reins of control. Nella repeatedly expresses her understanding that men have to work, after all...but couldn't she find something to do? She does try, but with Will in tow, it's hard. Will is suffering from--what, exactly? PTSD? Depression? Or just a manipulative power trip? From blithely "taking no notice" as she did during the war, when she felt her war work was paramount, Nella slips back into pandering to Will's every whim and mood. He is being treated with hypnosis, with limited success. It made me remember that in the 1950s there were still a lot of tropes dogging psychiatry: that it takes years and years, and that if you can just find that basal trauma, all will be revealed and resolved. Well, maybe in Hollywood; in real life, not so much.
There's also the "empty nest" to contend with, as Cliff has gone to Australia and Arthur is married and living far away in N. I. and then London. She misses their support and intelligent conversation at every turn, as well as the crowd of young friends that always surrounded them. They both make brief reappearances in the diary but of course they're adults now with concerns of their own.
The editors picked and chose what seemed most interesting to them, but I wonder if the readership would agree? There is almost nothing about her relationship with Edith, her daughter in law, and yet we know she must have written about it. During the war, before they met, Nella spoke of her with such gladness...and then...nothing. At least for us. Her many trips to N. I. and London are glossed over or left out in all four books, which I found frustrating.
I hope the readers, like me, clamour for more Nella and get it.
There's also the "empty nest" to contend with, as Cliff has gone to Australia and Arthur is married and living far away in N. I. and then London. She misses their support and intelligent conversation at every turn, as well as the crowd of young friends that always surrounded them. They both make brief reappearances in the diary but of course they're adults now with concerns of their own.
The editors picked and chose what seemed most interesting to them, but I wonder if the readership would agree? There is almost nothing about her relationship with Edith, her daughter in law, and yet we know she must have written about it. During the war, before they met, Nella spoke of her with such gladness...and then...nothing. At least for us. Her many trips to N. I. and London are glossed over or left out in all four books, which I found frustrating.
I hope the readers, like me, clamour for more Nella and get it.
March 1, 2012
I was sad to say goodbye to Nella. Then I made rice pudding, banana bread, gingerbread, biscuits, and soup. It was my daughter's birthday. She said, "I hope you read her books again next year."
October 3, 2011
The third of Nella Last's diaries, begun for the Mass Observation program in Britain during WWII and continued until the mid 1950's. I've read the first and third, and plan to read the middle installment, particularly since I know the years immediately post-war were harrowing for many English families. More than the first book, this is heavily edited and yet contains more frank accounts of Nella's relationship with her husband Will, apparently afflicted with clinical depression, and more honest appraisals of her beloved sons Arthur and Cliff. Parts of the diary read like a novel; it is every bit as interesting as some of the Miss Read books, if not quite as polished. Not as exciting as the first book, when diary entries were as likely to contain accounts of bombings survived in a cramped shelter as of the meals she contrived to make tasty out of a scrap of fish from the fishmonger, a leftover heel of bread, and a tin saved from a holiday meal, topped off with a sweet made from the last bit of the sugar ration of the month. While this diary is less thrilling and inspiring than the first, it still drew me from the very first entry.
April 14, 2014
I didn't realise there was a third book, spotted it in a clearance book shop for a pound - a treasure found! Like being reunited with an old friend. Nella Last wrote many many thousands of words over many years so we can only experience a dipping into them. How we would all love that our own grandparents and great grandparents had contributed so diligently to Mass Observation - a far better glimpse into recent history than the census.
Nella's observation of friends, family and her own husband are delightful, but how we feel for her and admire her for carrying on. She has a little help in the house, but is busy with a fascinating round of home baking and preparing delicious picnics for the outings to the Lake District, for relaxation she loves sewing and listening to the radio, by the end of this volume she had no desire to acquire a television and remarked on the number of aerials popping up in the neighbourhood.
It is nothing new for families to move away and this happens to Nella, leading to tales poignant and amusing.
Nella's observation of friends, family and her own husband are delightful, but how we feel for her and admire her for carrying on. She has a little help in the house, but is busy with a fascinating round of home baking and preparing delicious picnics for the outings to the Lake District, for relaxation she loves sewing and listening to the radio, by the end of this volume she had no desire to acquire a television and remarked on the number of aerials popping up in the neighbourhood.
It is nothing new for families to move away and this happens to Nella, leading to tales poignant and amusing.
October 22, 2018
I was born in 1951 so found this book of tremendous interest. I haven’t read the earlier edited diaries but don’t think that spoiled my interest in this one. Her powerful observations of everyday life and everyday folk are witty, poignant and honest. The way in which she records her husbands clinical depression and the impact it has on her and her relationship with him provides great insight into treatments and attitudes to mental illness at that time. Her writings paint a very vivd picture of both this country and the wider world of the early 50s; all the worries of another war looming, the threat of atomic bomb and the privations of a post war Britain.
This was not a book I expected to be gripped by , but one to dip in and out of. How wrong I was, I read it cover to cover
This was not a book I expected to be gripped by , but one to dip in and out of. How wrong I was, I read it cover to cover
November 27, 2017
Everything a diary should be, by one of the true diarists.
July 14, 2023
This is the final instalment of the trilogy of Nella Last’s diaries.
Nella is now in her sixties and as Britain is slowly modernising and with the fear of nuclear war, she writes about life in the early 1950s.
Nella began writing her diaries in August 1939 and sustained this for a further twelve years (although she continued to write for Mass Observation until February 1966). This organisation allowed Nella the opportunity to fulfil her ambition of writing a book and confirm her as one of the greatest diarists of the mid-twentieth century.
Nella is now in her sixties and as Britain is slowly modernising and with the fear of nuclear war, she writes about life in the early 1950s.
Nella began writing her diaries in August 1939 and sustained this for a further twelve years (although she continued to write for Mass Observation until February 1966). This organisation allowed Nella the opportunity to fulfil her ambition of writing a book and confirm her as one of the greatest diarists of the mid-twentieth century.
March 1, 2015
[Audiobook version]
I love Nella Last so much, and I'm sad to have come to the end of her diaries! There isn't much I have to say about this book -- it's much the same as Nella Last's Peace, and is full of the everyday details of life that I love, such as when Nella mentions a couple who receive "three electric clocks -- one for the bedroom and two for downstairs" as a wedding present. Electric clocks! How modern!
Yet despite the different times she lived in, I think a lot of Nella's attitudes and sensibilities were quite modern. I enjoyed her outrage after she saw a man, who was delivering bread, wipe his nose on his hand before handling the (unwrapped) bread:
As we ate lunch I asked my husband, 'What would you like to do, short of putting your head in the gas oven?' He looked aggrieved at my flippancy, but wouldn't give any kind of answer.
I love Nella Last so much, and I'm sad to have come to the end of her diaries! There isn't much I have to say about this book -- it's much the same as Nella Last's Peace, and is full of the everyday details of life that I love, such as when Nella mentions a couple who receive "three electric clocks -- one for the bedroom and two for downstairs" as a wedding present. Electric clocks! How modern!
Yet despite the different times she lived in, I think a lot of Nella's attitudes and sensibilities were quite modern. I enjoyed her outrage after she saw a man, who was delivering bread, wipe his nose on his hand before handling the (unwrapped) bread:
I felt my stomach turn over. I've often noticed assistants coughing and sneezing into handkerchiefs, put them back into their pockets and reach for cakes, and felt that what I couldn't bake I'd do without. I was once told in Canteen I had a 'neurosis' -- he was a smarty college conchie and he was referring to my firm refusal to let the boys on 'lamp' or heavy oil fatigue take sandwiches or cake into their filthy hands. We wrapped a wee piece of paper on one side to hold them by. This morning I really felt sick, yet realised there were much more unhygienic tricks we never saw...
April 4, 2022
It captures so much of the changing post-war world, the Barrow world and also the process of growing older in the 1950s when 60 was old. One might have expected a lightening of mood in the days of peace but Korea and the atom and hydrogen bombs loomed large over thoughts for the present and fears for the future. Those of us of a slightly later generation of Barrovians tend to think the Cuban Missile Crisis was the great fear for the end of the world. According to this the early fifties were every bit as fearful.
If we take the diaries as a close study of a relationship alone then they are worth their weight in gold. Here is my mother and father’s life and ups and downs and rows and fights and all held together by an obligation to stay together and a bond of love that is often out of sight but never wholly absent. The thoughts and attitudes towards grown up children are fascinating . A family at war in more ways than one.
The three books have been one of the most rewarding of reading experiences for me. They form a hugely important social history of the 1940s and early fifties. They capture semi-suburban Barrow life, the hardships, the shortages, the fears over being able to pay the bills. The cast of people she knows are superb and I’ll miss them all; though I feel I know them both through the accurate characterisations but also because I knew such people in Barrow, Dalton and Ulverston a decade and a half later. From a selfish point of view I’m glad Ulverston came into this book more than the previous two, particularly with mention to what a good shopping place it was...especially the market. (A tragedy. that this crown jewel has dwindled to a pale ghost of its former self -something that is close to a crime in my view)
A fabulous read that provoked countless chuckles and not a few tears. I put it alongside A Dance to the Music of Time in what it means to me personally (though I don’t make any claims that it matches that series of books from a literary point of view) and the characters are far more relatable to my life. I’ll miss Nella Last and Will and the cats. I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to read them when I first discovered them but I’ve loved them from page one of the first book to the glossary at the end of volume 3. And I’ve half an idea I may even read them again someday. Certainly trips to Coniston and Walney, Spark Bridge, Greenodd and Ulverston will be the richer for having read them.
If we take the diaries as a close study of a relationship alone then they are worth their weight in gold. Here is my mother and father’s life and ups and downs and rows and fights and all held together by an obligation to stay together and a bond of love that is often out of sight but never wholly absent. The thoughts and attitudes towards grown up children are fascinating . A family at war in more ways than one.
The three books have been one of the most rewarding of reading experiences for me. They form a hugely important social history of the 1940s and early fifties. They capture semi-suburban Barrow life, the hardships, the shortages, the fears over being able to pay the bills. The cast of people she knows are superb and I’ll miss them all; though I feel I know them both through the accurate characterisations but also because I knew such people in Barrow, Dalton and Ulverston a decade and a half later. From a selfish point of view I’m glad Ulverston came into this book more than the previous two, particularly with mention to what a good shopping place it was...especially the market. (A tragedy. that this crown jewel has dwindled to a pale ghost of its former self -something that is close to a crime in my view)
A fabulous read that provoked countless chuckles and not a few tears. I put it alongside A Dance to the Music of Time in what it means to me personally (though I don’t make any claims that it matches that series of books from a literary point of view) and the characters are far more relatable to my life. I’ll miss Nella Last and Will and the cats. I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to read them when I first discovered them but I’ve loved them from page one of the first book to the glossary at the end of volume 3. And I’ve half an idea I may even read them again someday. Certainly trips to Coniston and Walney, Spark Bridge, Greenodd and Ulverston will be the richer for having read them.
July 9, 2019
Having finished the Post-War diaries I dived straight into this third and final volume of Nella Last's writing for Mass Observation. This volume in fact covers only a few years of the fifties - from 1950-1952 with a short appendix covering the floods of 1953. Nella's husband finally retires from the family business due to increasing mental health problems, while her younger son Cliff has moved to Australia and become a successful sculptor and her elder son now has two little boys. The diaries continue to fascinate for their detailed insight into everyday life - a life that in many ways was very different to ours but in other ways strikes a real chord. Now in her sixties, Nella reacts to the swift modernisation going on around her (television aerials suddenly sprouting everywhere) and looks back to a (slightly rose-tinted?) past on her grandmother's farm. Her loyalty to an increasingly difficult husband is admirable, but also makes one think how attitudes to marriage have changed - I felt a woman of sixty today might leave him to start afresh with much greater readiness... Her acute perception and analysis of characters, together with a keen ear for dialogue, brings alive a cast of friends and neighbours. I will miss her narrative company very much.
March 18, 2025
Nella Last's diaries are so compelling, I was rather sad to discover that the promised "1950s" was really up to 1952 with a smattering of 1953.
She manages to bring her life and the people in it to life around her, even just by relating quick conversations across the fence or encounters in a shop.
She manages to bring her life and the people in it to life around her, even just by relating quick conversations across the fence or encounters in a shop.
January 30, 2019
Review
As always a wonderful insight into the thoughts feeling and hardships experienced in post war Britton. Nella a resourcefulness was unlimited. The display of community spirit was heartening. A quality sadly lacking in today's society. Love these books
As always a wonderful insight into the thoughts feeling and hardships experienced in post war Britton. Nella a resourcefulness was unlimited. The display of community spirit was heartening. A quality sadly lacking in today's society. Love these books
March 1, 2023
I ended up skimming; it didn't have the same kind of energy and interesting-ness as the first two, of course because it's no longer wartime. Her husband was very depressed and anxious, and that was the main plot. I don't like reading about depression, so I didn't like the book in general.
March 19, 2025
I’ve read the two previous books in the Nella Last series and all three give a great insight into the lives of ordinary people. I preferred Nella Last’s War which was set in wartime but the following two books give a continuation to Nella’s life after the war.
August 22, 2017
After seeing Housewife, 49 this is a bit disappointing. Most is about her husband's health, and trips to the coast or the Lake District.
December 11, 2019
Brings to life a forgotten era.
Brilliantly descriptive account of the post war years from an ordinary housewives perspective. An enjoyable gossipy book very well edited.
Brilliantly descriptive account of the post war years from an ordinary housewives perspective. An enjoyable gossipy book very well edited.
June 20, 2021
Least interesting of the trilogy
Read
November 29, 2021Fabulous
August 17, 2022
I love being in Nella's world.
January 6, 2017
The third (and possibly final?) volume of extracts from Nella's millions of words written over more than thirty years. I loved Nella from her first volume. This one certainly has less going on than the wartime diaries but it's still quite fascinating and thought-provoking. Nella is intelligent, observant, and critical, and uses her diary to mull over all sorts of topics from the personal to the political. She tells you so much about social norms and day-to-day life in the 1950s, sometimes surprising you. I knew that rationing was still going on of course, but I was still quite surprised that scheduled power cuts were a weekly occurrence accepted with resignation and "making do", and there were desperate shortages of essentials like coal. Elsewhere, Nella talks about some black nurses at the hospital whom she has happily chatted with, complimenting them on their work; an unusually enlightened attitude for the time. But then she describes recoiling in horror on seeing the young children of a black doctor and his white wife: she's fine with black people, but "miscegenation" makes her shudder!
I did feel sorry for her having to deal for so long and so thanklessly with her husband's mental health problems. It's not clear what caused them, but he appears to be suffering from severe depression and also separation anxiety. She has the patience of a saint.
What a marvellous metaphor. This extract makes him sound almost psychologically abusive, but luckily Nella doesn't tamely buckle under and sometimes "gets on her top note" with him, making "fur and feathers fly". But she still generally goes to extreme lengths not to upset him.
As in previous volumes, one of her great solaces is their outings to the countryside nearby. She writes lyrically about nature. I loved the moment where she is tempted to pick a bunch of yellow coltsfoot but then pauses: "They were growing on a little heap of gravel-soil by the roadside, where passers-by couldn't fail to see them. It seemed greedy to take them for my own tea table in my little crystal vase when they could flaunt and shout their yellow joy to motorists passing."
She is endlessly open-hearted and generous, even with strangers and people she doesn't particularly like. It's a shame she never knew what pleasure her writing would give to others. I wonder what she could have done with her life if she'd had more freedom. Even as it was, she definitely improved the lives of her friends and family.
I did feel sorry for her having to deal for so long and so thanklessly with her husband's mental health problems. It's not clear what caused them, but he appears to be suffering from severe depression and also separation anxiety. She has the patience of a saint.
He has always had a curious way of hoarding up "slights" and "snubs", but since he has been ill it has grown worse. His mind acts like a stopped-up drain, slowly gathering odds and ends of tea leaves, and odd scraps of vegetables that putrefied slowly -- anything and everything that would tend to block a drain. Then when it's unstopped it's amazing what has gone to the accumulation! I know he hates me to talk to anyone unless he is there, but his rage took the form of "Fearing you will catch more cold -- you never think of the bother you give people" ... he raked up about me having been so lame and not able to go walking and he "Always had to trail about by himself if we went over Walney".
What a marvellous metaphor. This extract makes him sound almost psychologically abusive, but luckily Nella doesn't tamely buckle under and sometimes "gets on her top note" with him, making "fur and feathers fly". But she still generally goes to extreme lengths not to upset him.
As in previous volumes, one of her great solaces is their outings to the countryside nearby. She writes lyrically about nature. I loved the moment where she is tempted to pick a bunch of yellow coltsfoot but then pauses: "They were growing on a little heap of gravel-soil by the roadside, where passers-by couldn't fail to see them. It seemed greedy to take them for my own tea table in my little crystal vase when they could flaunt and shout their yellow joy to motorists passing."
She is endlessly open-hearted and generous, even with strangers and people she doesn't particularly like. It's a shame she never knew what pleasure her writing would give to others. I wonder what she could have done with her life if she'd had more freedom. Even as it was, she definitely improved the lives of her friends and family.
June 14, 2012
I found this copy in a charity shop not that long ago thinking it would be nice to finish the trilogy of diaries and see what happened later to Nella. However when I was just a few pages into this book I had a sneaking suspicion that I hadn’t actually read the second book ‘Nella Last’s Peace’. I checked – and I hadn’t. This fact continued to irritate me mildly through the first part of the book.
Nella Last – was an ordinary woman in many ways. Yet when she began to write diaries for the Mass Observation she found her voice. It proved to be a quite extraordinary one too. Her observations of her family, friends and neighbours with whom she had shared the war years in Barrow certainly made for fascinating reading in the first book of her diaries. Although what I particularly liked in that book was the minute recreation of daily life for ordinary people during those long and difficult war years. Nella’s work with the WVS and the people she met who she would otherwise never have met made it a hugely readable and memorable book for many people.
In this book Nella’s writing is still just as good – maybe even better – she’s had many years of practise by this time – yet these diaries do concentrate mainly on the lives of the people around her. Nella does comment a lot however, about politics – both nationally and locally, never frightened to say what she means. She too, is unfailingly honest – admitting for instance to a certain amount of colour prejudice. She is a wonderful observer of people and here too she is quick to criticise those she finds hard to understand. Nella’s honesty is particularly poignant in her descriptions of her husband’s depressive illness, and the challenges this presented her.
Throughout her diaries Nella’s love of Cumbria and the lakes is infectious. She is a wonderful chronicler of Barrow in the 50’s and brings the period to life for us reading her words now. Nella delights in occasional trips into the Lakeland countryside; bargains found on market days, celebrates the good news of one neighbour while condoling over the fate of another.
“Friday, 5 October
We went to Coniston. Never have I seen that quiet lake more serene and lovely. Its glass-like surface was a phantasy of shadows of fell and hil, difficult to tell where shadow ended and substance began. Such a wonderful day for Donald Campbell – a country man answered us there had been several such days – a real worry for him and his staff when they are away fixing up yet another something or other.”
As good as these diaries are – and I do think they are – I didn’t enjoy reading them as much as I had expected. I don’t think I was really in the mood for non-fiction – but actually enjoyed the first third of the book a lot – before I became a tiny bit restless with it.
Nella Last – was an ordinary woman in many ways. Yet when she began to write diaries for the Mass Observation she found her voice. It proved to be a quite extraordinary one too. Her observations of her family, friends and neighbours with whom she had shared the war years in Barrow certainly made for fascinating reading in the first book of her diaries. Although what I particularly liked in that book was the minute recreation of daily life for ordinary people during those long and difficult war years. Nella’s work with the WVS and the people she met who she would otherwise never have met made it a hugely readable and memorable book for many people.
In this book Nella’s writing is still just as good – maybe even better – she’s had many years of practise by this time – yet these diaries do concentrate mainly on the lives of the people around her. Nella does comment a lot however, about politics – both nationally and locally, never frightened to say what she means. She too, is unfailingly honest – admitting for instance to a certain amount of colour prejudice. She is a wonderful observer of people and here too she is quick to criticise those she finds hard to understand. Nella’s honesty is particularly poignant in her descriptions of her husband’s depressive illness, and the challenges this presented her.
Throughout her diaries Nella’s love of Cumbria and the lakes is infectious. She is a wonderful chronicler of Barrow in the 50’s and brings the period to life for us reading her words now. Nella delights in occasional trips into the Lakeland countryside; bargains found on market days, celebrates the good news of one neighbour while condoling over the fate of another.
“Friday, 5 October
We went to Coniston. Never have I seen that quiet lake more serene and lovely. Its glass-like surface was a phantasy of shadows of fell and hil, difficult to tell where shadow ended and substance began. Such a wonderful day for Donald Campbell – a country man answered us there had been several such days – a real worry for him and his staff when they are away fixing up yet another something or other.”
As good as these diaries are – and I do think they are – I didn’t enjoy reading them as much as I had expected. I don’t think I was really in the mood for non-fiction – but actually enjoyed the first third of the book a lot – before I became a tiny bit restless with it.
September 4, 2011
this is the 3rd part of Nella's published diary, this started off as an experiment by the Mass observation in 1939 when they asked people to send their diaries on a monthly basis, this went on to the mid 50's. Nella must have been one of the few that kept on religiously, the finding of this experiment were to form the basis of several important social history books of the decade. Nella kept on with her diary right up to her death in 1968.
The diary shows what a hard era the 50's were, very similar to today people were struggling to find a place to live as they could not afford mortgages,Britains economy was in decline as they paid back their war debts, and basic food and fuel prices had rocketed. This was also a period of unrest as the Korean war had taken place and once again British men had gone to fight, there was also a fear of nuclear war which was hanging over the world.
many people seemed to be suffering from "nerves" which i would guess was some sort of breakdown and i wonder if this was a legacy of the war years, Nella's husband was really bad and there was no cure.This was the era of mend and make do and nothing was thrown away, it was incredible reading about how much woman could do with a needle and thread !
nella's son had emigrated to Australia which must have been unusual as it was before the era of mass imigration, he later became a very well known sculptor in Australia.
I found it hard to accept how she coped with her husbands ill health his clinginess and moods and walking on egg shells,she does get fed up but it becomes clear she loves her husband and just wants him to recover, but in the 50's divorce was unheard of and there was no where a divorced woman could go,her wish is that she should die before him when the time comes as she knows he will not cope without her, unfortunately we find out this did not happen and she died 11 months before him.
This book gives an insight to life in the 50's the everyday life, the diet,which seemed to be fish a lot , there was no big super,markets, fast food outlets or takeaways.This book is set in the north near the lake district and that was one of the treats( although petrol was hard to come by and running a car was now a luxury) a run out to one of the lakes for a picnic. It stops in the mid fifties and i would have liked to know if things got any better, you get embroiled in Nella's life and her neighbours ,this is a great insight to life as it was in the 50's.
The diary shows what a hard era the 50's were, very similar to today people were struggling to find a place to live as they could not afford mortgages,Britains economy was in decline as they paid back their war debts, and basic food and fuel prices had rocketed. This was also a period of unrest as the Korean war had taken place and once again British men had gone to fight, there was also a fear of nuclear war which was hanging over the world.
many people seemed to be suffering from "nerves" which i would guess was some sort of breakdown and i wonder if this was a legacy of the war years, Nella's husband was really bad and there was no cure.This was the era of mend and make do and nothing was thrown away, it was incredible reading about how much woman could do with a needle and thread !
nella's son had emigrated to Australia which must have been unusual as it was before the era of mass imigration, he later became a very well known sculptor in Australia.
I found it hard to accept how she coped with her husbands ill health his clinginess and moods and walking on egg shells,she does get fed up but it becomes clear she loves her husband and just wants him to recover, but in the 50's divorce was unheard of and there was no where a divorced woman could go,her wish is that she should die before him when the time comes as she knows he will not cope without her, unfortunately we find out this did not happen and she died 11 months before him.
This book gives an insight to life in the 50's the everyday life, the diet,which seemed to be fish a lot , there was no big super,markets, fast food outlets or takeaways.This book is set in the north near the lake district and that was one of the treats( although petrol was hard to come by and running a car was now a luxury) a run out to one of the lakes for a picnic. It stops in the mid fifties and i would have liked to know if things got any better, you get embroiled in Nella's life and her neighbours ,this is a great insight to life as it was in the 50's.
March 11, 2015
With lots going on towards the end of 2014, my 12 books in 12 months Goodreads challenge has spilled over into 2015. This is the 11th...
It was so wonderful to have another installment of Nella's diaries to devour. Here are some of my favourite passages:
12th June 1950
Nella is admiring the crew and workers aboard a sailing ship that's come into the ship yard for repairs. She's pondering on colour and race and makes the comment: "It makes my theory that some day there will be one race with no warring element of barriers that fear and greed make, and understanding of each other's ways and thought."
19th August 1950
The war in Korea rages on, along with the threat of atom bombs and total destruction. Nella has cultivated "a feeling we are all in some great and intricate "Place", that "it's not life that matters, but the courage we bring to it"."
23rd January 1951
Nella is talking about her one extravagance being the football pools and the 1 shilling she spends on the postal order. This tickled me because I've been working in a Post Office for the last couple of years and still do postal orders for people's football pools - but it's a darn sight more expensive now!
30th May 1951
Arthur, Nella's eldest son comes to visit and he now has children of his own. The two of them are talking about the joy of children and grand children. A wonderful mother and son moment captured here.
15th September 1951
Nella is enjoying her low level gambling with the football pools and dreaming about what she would do if she ever won, how she could help her husband and her boys. She recalls Cliff, her younger son having this to say on the matter: "No, I don't think so. I'm sure any artist is better without security. I sometimes think it would be better if I had not even my (Army) pension." I believe there's truth to this. When your back is against the wall financially and the one thing you have is your talent - whether that be writing, sculpting, painting - to get you out of a hole, it makes you work harder than ever.
11th March 1952
Nella has been listening to the Tommy Handley Story on the wireless with her husband. He was a great comedian of the time. She remembers her days in the canteen during the war, quipping with soldiers who "went gaily off, never to return". The laughter and the nonsense was a shining light in the dark days of World War 2. She says: "I hope Tommy has met them now."
It was so wonderful to have another installment of Nella's diaries to devour. Here are some of my favourite passages:
12th June 1950
Nella is admiring the crew and workers aboard a sailing ship that's come into the ship yard for repairs. She's pondering on colour and race and makes the comment: "It makes my theory that some day there will be one race with no warring element of barriers that fear and greed make, and understanding of each other's ways and thought."
19th August 1950
The war in Korea rages on, along with the threat of atom bombs and total destruction. Nella has cultivated "a feeling we are all in some great and intricate "Place", that "it's not life that matters, but the courage we bring to it"."
23rd January 1951
Nella is talking about her one extravagance being the football pools and the 1 shilling she spends on the postal order. This tickled me because I've been working in a Post Office for the last couple of years and still do postal orders for people's football pools - but it's a darn sight more expensive now!
30th May 1951
Arthur, Nella's eldest son comes to visit and he now has children of his own. The two of them are talking about the joy of children and grand children. A wonderful mother and son moment captured here.
15th September 1951
Nella is enjoying her low level gambling with the football pools and dreaming about what she would do if she ever won, how she could help her husband and her boys. She recalls Cliff, her younger son having this to say on the matter: "No, I don't think so. I'm sure any artist is better without security. I sometimes think it would be better if I had not even my (Army) pension." I believe there's truth to this. When your back is against the wall financially and the one thing you have is your talent - whether that be writing, sculpting, painting - to get you out of a hole, it makes you work harder than ever.
11th March 1952
Nella has been listening to the Tommy Handley Story on the wireless with her husband. He was a great comedian of the time. She remembers her days in the canteen during the war, quipping with soldiers who "went gaily off, never to return". The laughter and the nonsense was a shining light in the dark days of World War 2. She says: "I hope Tommy has met them now."
February 6, 2017
I am a huge fan of Nella Last, who may not have known it when she was writing these diaries for the British Mass Obervation Project (the idea there being that if you give British people diaries and ask them to record their impressions about WW2 and post-war Britain, they actually will do it assiduously, out of a sense of duty, and in the case of last, because she loved writing), but is a remarkable writer. In her first book, which I read quite some time ago, she writes poignantly about the devastation of the war, sympathetically about all who were hurt by it, regardless of what side they were on, with domestic particularity about her many economies and wittily about her neighbors and friends. Two things stand out about Nella Last during the war (many things do, but these are the ones that come to mind). First, she was a fantastic cook, if her food descriptions are anything to go by. And second, she should have been a CEO, an impression you get when you read about her volunteer work during the war when she seems to have run at least three small businesses (a canteen, a mobile canteen, and a thrift shop) with smashing success.
This diary, which she wrote after the war, continues to be a remarkable on the ground observation of what post-war Britain was like -- its grayness, sense of futility, loss, fear. I didn't quite realize that post-war Britain was such a difficult place, but its recovery from the war took a long time, and this diary helps you understand what that was like and why.
It's only February, but this will be one of my favorite reads of the year and probably of the decade.
This diary, which she wrote after the war, continues to be a remarkable on the ground observation of what post-war Britain was like -- its grayness, sense of futility, loss, fear. I didn't quite realize that post-war Britain was such a difficult place, but its recovery from the war took a long time, and this diary helps you understand what that was like and why.
It's only February, but this will be one of my favorite reads of the year and probably of the decade.
March 13, 2022
In 1939, housewife and mother, Nells Last, began a diary that lasted for 30 years. These journals were part of the Mass Observation Project in England. This was the third book of her journals. This book covers daily life after World War II with it's many shortages, worry about Korea, and the fear of atomic bomb. Nella's children are grown, her husband retires and she keeps busy and always looks ahead. I will miss Nella.
Read
September 12, 2011Nella Last in the 1950’s, by Nella Last and edited by Robert and Patricia Malcolmson, narrated by Carole Boyd, produced by Audiogo ltd. Downloaded from audible.com.
Nella Last at the age of 49 began keeping a journal at the beginning of WW II. The Malcolmsons edited a journal of her writings from 1939 through 1945. Then the editors took part of her journals from 1946 through 1949 where she talked about peace after the war. This particular portion of her continued journal goes from 1950 through 1952. Nella actually kept journals for the rest of her life, and she died in the 1960’s. The Malcolmsons edited her journals to create these first three books.
This third volume sees Nella, now in her sixties, writing of what ordinary people felt during those years of growing prosperity in a modernising
Britain. Her diary offers a detailed, moving and humorous narrative of daily life at a time that shaped the society we live in today. It is an account
that's full of surprises as we learn more about her relationship with 'my husband' (never 'Will') and her fears of nuclear war. Nella indicates several times in these journals that she would like to have been a writer. It is really sad that these journals were not edited until the 1980’s, and that there is a large part of her journal writing that has not yet been read. She would have been happy to know that these journals were published and read and enjoyed by many people.
Nella Last at the age of 49 began keeping a journal at the beginning of WW II. The Malcolmsons edited a journal of her writings from 1939 through 1945. Then the editors took part of her journals from 1946 through 1949 where she talked about peace after the war. This particular portion of her continued journal goes from 1950 through 1952. Nella actually kept journals for the rest of her life, and she died in the 1960’s. The Malcolmsons edited her journals to create these first three books.
This third volume sees Nella, now in her sixties, writing of what ordinary people felt during those years of growing prosperity in a modernising
Britain. Her diary offers a detailed, moving and humorous narrative of daily life at a time that shaped the society we live in today. It is an account
that's full of surprises as we learn more about her relationship with 'my husband' (never 'Will') and her fears of nuclear war. Nella indicates several times in these journals that she would like to have been a writer. It is really sad that these journals were not edited until the 1980’s, and that there is a large part of her journal writing that has not yet been read. She would have been happy to know that these journals were published and read and enjoyed by many people.
July 4, 2014
I adored this series of books. Essentially epistolary, each book is a collection of letters Nella Last wrote in response to questions sent to her and other women by a government study group, during WWII and beyond in England. It's fascinating to read about this remarkable woman's life. I started with the WWII book, as it was the first, and the progressed through the other three. Even though the letters deal illustrate the mundane details of a life lived quietly, Nella Last was a prolific, thoughtful and articulate writer. Her subjects include the changing morals brought on by the war and the influx of "foreign" men, sex in middle age, women's changing roles, identity, mental illness, struggling to live in a patriarchal society, living well with little, and many more issues. Even at the very beginning of the first book, I found so much to admire in this strong and capable woman. In England, a rather sparse movie was made of this book, which I found to be very unsatisfying. Stick to the books instead. I would recommend all four of these books but the first one is the most satisfying.
April 15, 2014
This is the third instalment of Nella Last's diaries and in my opinion the most difficult to read. It is quite a jumble of thoughts which often required me to re-read a paragraph to grasp the meaning. It is as if the editors hurried through the diaries with difficulty. However, I enjoyed the book immensely but was thankful that I had read the previous two instalments or I would not have had a clue what it was all about.
The content of Nella's diaries is quite fascinating, especially as I was a toddler in the period of which she writes. To think of the change in society from then to now - such a short time period - is amazing; how different are our attitudes and daily routines.
A wonderful insight into life just after the second world war. This third instalment does not contain as much detail of managing the household as the first and second books but gives us a greater insight into her strained relationship with her husband Will.
The content of Nella's diaries is quite fascinating, especially as I was a toddler in the period of which she writes. To think of the change in society from then to now - such a short time period - is amazing; how different are our attitudes and daily routines.
A wonderful insight into life just after the second world war. This third instalment does not contain as much detail of managing the household as the first and second books but gives us a greater insight into her strained relationship with her husband Will.
November 23, 2010
What I Can Tell You:
I didn't fly through this book. It didn't hold my attention nor did I long to read it when I wasn't BUT, I found it very thought provoking. Nella kept a diary much of her life like a lot of us and wrote about the goings on in her life. I imagine that this is what my grandmother's diary would have read like if she had taken the time to put her thoughts down. To write in detail the daily life she led.
My favorite parts of the book were in the food details and how she talks about her husband. Such an odd relationship. So fascinating in how they skirt around certain issues not taking the liberties we take today with each other. There is a cordiality about how you dealt with people Not inserting yourself or sharing too much.
Very interesting but not a quick read for me.
I didn't fly through this book. It didn't hold my attention nor did I long to read it when I wasn't BUT, I found it very thought provoking. Nella kept a diary much of her life like a lot of us and wrote about the goings on in her life. I imagine that this is what my grandmother's diary would have read like if she had taken the time to put her thoughts down. To write in detail the daily life she led.
My favorite parts of the book were in the food details and how she talks about her husband. Such an odd relationship. So fascinating in how they skirt around certain issues not taking the liberties we take today with each other. There is a cordiality about how you dealt with people Not inserting yourself or sharing too much.
Very interesting but not a quick read for me.
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