Henrietta's War: News from the Home Front 1939-1942

by Joyce Dennys

Book Overview

Spirited Henrietta wishes she was the kind of doctor's wife who knew exactly how to deal with the daily upheavals of war. But then, everyone in her close-knit Devonshire village seems to find... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140092633
• ISBN13: 9780140092639
• Release Date: November 1987
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A very, very funny read!

Henrietta's War is a novel told in epistolary format. Henrietta is the wife of a doctor in Devon, living in a "Safe Area" during World War II. Her never-reciprocated letters are to an old childhood friend, "Robert" on the war front, to whom she narrates the minutiae of her life at home. Her letters are full of tales of her neighbors: Faith, a flirty young woman who enjoys showing off her legs; Lady B, who writes letters to Hitler (As Henrietta says, "She says it has never failed to give her a good night's sleep. I think her great-grandchildren will enjoy those letters, don't you?"); Mrs. Savernack the village's local Committee Woman; and others, including Charles, Henrietta's sensible husband, who puts up with his wife's sarcastic sense of humor with an incredible amount of patience. This is a short novel; it only covers the first half of the war, from 1939 to the end of 1941 (a copy of the second volume of Henrietta's letters, also reprinted by the Bloomsbury Group, is sitting on my TBR shelf). Henrietta's letters are warm, witty, and funny. There's something about the tone of this book that's very English and patriotic; and our middle-aged heroine regales us with tales of sitting on sewing bee committees, dealing with the people from London who invade every summer (and say things like, "you people down here don't understand how the war really is"), gardening with lumbago while wearing a hot water bottle on her back, and going to court for showing a light during a blackout. All of the people in the village jump off the page, and are a delight to read about; even Henrietta's dog, Perry, is a vibrant character in the book! The war itself isn't a major part of this book, but it deals more with how average English people deal with the war, even in a place like Devonshire. In many ways, it reminds me a lot of Good Evening Mrs. Craven, by Mollie Panter-Downes, a collection of short stories about average Britons during the war. Henrietta's War is a book that's just as enjoyable, and highly recommended; I found myself laughing out loud in many places. I read it in one sitting, and I'm eager to read the further adventures of Henrietta in the follow-up, Henrietta Sees it Through.

Laugh a mile a minute

I love this book! It is so light-hearted and reminded me of some small town stuff that I live with too. It did not take away from the realities of war, but it is so sweet and genuine. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a dry sense of humor.

Hilarious Happenings on the Home Front

Reason for Reading: I am reading all The Bloomsbury Group books. Joyce Dennys who at the time was more known for her illustrations and aid work during WWI found her time more limited during WWII, being now taken up almost full-time as a mother and doctor's wife so she turned to writing, publishing a fictional letter from "Henrietta" to a dear "Childhood's Friend" on the war front about daily life back on the home front. The article proved so popular that Henrietta's letters became a regular feature in Sketch. The letters were first collected into book form in 1985. Each letter is accompanied by one humorous illustration. The letters mostly deal with the local shenanigans going on around the village. The gossip, whose mad at who and why, the embarrassing things that happen to the writer plus the author also shows her concern for her reader "Robert", talks of the war occasionally, then gets back on track remembering her letters are supposed to make Robert forget the war and think of home. Of course, the town is filled with eccentric characters such as the dominating Lady B. with a dog the size of a rat and the will of Hitler, the bossy though very efficient Mrs. Saversnack, the dreamy-headed flirtatious Faith and the shy absolutely smitten Composer who is madly in love with her. Then there is Henrietta herself who is a bit of a klutz and will get into the strangest situations or find herself watching one delightedly and her doctor husband who being the strong, silent type stays mainly in the background. The book is whimsical and quaint. While concentrating on everyday life, enough information about daily living circumstances during the war such as rationing, air raid drills, committees, wardens, collecting tin and other such material for the army show just how much affect the war had on a tiny village in England even to this point where it has not been bombed. Especially when one considers that even while these letters are fictional, this is source material written at the very time the real events of those days were happening. Enjoyable, with some actual laugh out loud moments

one of the most charming books i have ever read

Henrietta's war is one of the most charming, witty, books I have read. The gentle humour with which it recounts the first few years of the second world war from the perspective of an intelligent, educated, housewife living in a village in Devon, (England), is quite delightful. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys subtlety in their humour. A winner

The British Homefront at its finest (and funniest!)

Follow the adventures of Henrietta Brown as she and her neighbors keep the home fires burning in WWII Devon. This semi-autobiographical account gives one an idea of what day to day life must have been yet instills a subtle dry humor that keeps the reader coming back for more. Henrietta battles weeds and lumbago while digging for victory (complete with a hot water bottle tied to her back!)Husband Charles and demanding Perry the dog learn to live with rationing and Faith the divorcee shocks the ladies by learning to cook, but her secret recipe for marmalade isn't quite the success she had hoped!And will Henrietta go to prison when she shows a light during the blackout? You'll have to read it to see! My own copy of this book is falling apart and I've glued the pages back in many times. It definitely gets my 'book to take to a desert island' award.