War Wives

This is the remarkable testimony of the unsung heroines of the Second World War: the ‘ordinary’ housewives of Britain and Germany who were left to survive without their menfolk, sometimes for over seven years. The story is told in their own words – dramatic, funny, tragic, poignant. Each letter or journal, seen here for the first time, gives a unique insight into the effects of war on everyday life and relationships. Though women on both sides were forced to regard each other as enemies, this book demonstrates that their sufferings were universal – a compelling plea for peace.

Above all, the stories are human, full of pathos and humour: from the young women left alone without fathers for their children to the women whose husbands never returned; from the women who remained faithful to those who joyously or guiltily embraced a new love; from the women whose mental suffering can hardly be imagined, to those who learned a new trade and emerged at the end of the war as strong new people who found it difficult to return to the world of the 1930s.