'Her normal life pleased her so well that she was half afraid to step out of its frame
in case one day she should find herself unable to get back.
The spell might break, the atmosphere be impossible to recapture.'
The opening paragraph of Mrs Miniver captures her zest for living and her delight in everyday objects and situations. On arriving home after the summer holidays, she enters the drawing room where tea is laid and a fire burns brightly; sun floods through the windows and she arranges chrysanthemums in a vase, so that the sun shines through them.
We are immediately transported to her world: she shares her insights as she describes the people and situations she comes across with warmth and wisdom. But her contented existence is threatened by the prospect of war.
Jan Struther's book was published in October 1939, shortly after the outbreak of war. Winston Churchill said that Mrs Miniver had done more for the Allies in hastening the United States' entry into the war than a flotilla of battleships.
I remember seeing the film but haven't read the book, perhaps I should:)
ReplyDeleteRosie - the book was a refreshing change from the film which, as I mentioned in my post, was created more for an American audience and I felt, did not reflect British life in wartime. Marie x
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