Customer Reviews

Nella Last's Peace: The Post-War Diaries Of Housewife, 49

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This is the sequel to Nella Last's War. Both were written for the Mass Observation Project which was started in England during WWII. This diary of Nella's written in the years just after war ended is excellent. One feels one is there in Barrow-in-Furness with her. You feel you know her. You want to talk to her about her life. It is written in a diary format and is one of the best books of this type I have read. One thing I particularly like about this book (and other diaries put out by the Mass observation Project) is that the author is an ordinary lower middle class person; so many published diaries are by the famous or the priviledged or the rich. So it is refreshing to have the view of a person with whom most of us can identify. I recommend it without reservation.

This book takes you right back, to what people were concerned with in their everyday lives, a detailed description of what Nella fixed for meals and what it cost, money, time and effort wise to do so, and a more intimate look at her marriage. You really get a picture of life in the years the book portrays, and get to know her better than before. Loved how she is standing up for herself more, and speaking her mind with sometimes surprising results. But the food----just putting meals on the table at this time of severe rationing and shortages,the relief of getting some food packages after her son moves to Australia, this is the most real look you get inside a home and a life. Great book!

I love Nella. Her observations and descriptions have given me a very real sense of what it was like to live in Barrow during that period of time. Also, she is someone I would like to know.

I was looking forward to this book as I have an interest in 20th Century English history but I am sorry to say I did not ultimately enjoy it all that much. Although ostensibly a diary of the post-war years (written as an intended contribution to the 'Mass observation' project, I believe) I found that the style seemed to suggest someone with 'creative writing' aspirations, and, as a result, the rather overdone style rather detracted from my enjoyment of the underlying history to a considerable degree. In addition to the rather florid descriptive style, in many places I found that Mrs Last's general observations about contemporary events often became lost in lengthy, mundane and not very interesting details of family concerns. Having said all the above, though, I hope that I do not discourage interested persons from buying this book because my criticisms, in all fairness, are just personal responses to the book and should in no way suggest that I do not find the work to be of historical importance. Indeed, I still intend to read this author's diaries of the war years at some point. I should also say that, although a lot of readers may find Mrs Last's attention to culinary topics a bit tedious, this was one aspect of the book I especially enjoyed.

I think everyone who read "Nella Last's War" wondered what Nella would do once it all ended, and here we have our answer. At least, we have the beginning of one.

The first thing I noticed about "Nella Last's Peace" was that Nella seemed to be war-weary, because there's a heavy feel to the first part of this volume. Clearly, people in the time period immediately following World War Two found that just because the war was over didn't mean their lives would just revert to 1939. It sounds like a cliche, but everyone and everything changed completely. In England, people were also dealing with continued rationing and a newly socialist government. How ironic that the UK became, albeit benignly, what it had been fighting to eradicate. How sad. I liked Nella's response to the new government, especially when she wrote that she would spend any extra money she had instead of waiting for the tax man to come and get it. Furthermore, she told her husband that she wanted a fur coat and a diamond ring for Christmas, the latter of which she got, by the way. Bazinga. You go, Mrs. Last.

Honestly, I'd like Nella Last to be required reading for anyone who is tempted to glamorize socialism or any other form of government that restricts people's freedoms. This book is rich and stimulating.