October book club - Miss Carter's War

Many thanks I've just received the book today and it looks very interesting.

Is any of the book based on her own experiences or maybe someone she knew. Perhaps Marguerite is a combination of people she has met?

Sheila -I'm enjoying this book So-o-o much.
I echo all that nonnanna said - a brilliant historical,sociological study.

So many of the places and people bring back memories - grammar school in Lancs, -London Uni in early 50s, living in Islington by Myddleton Sq,church services at St Mark's,shopping in Chapel Market, queuing at Sadlers Wells for gallery seats. My college was in Bloomsbury Sq.
My first holiday work was in Dartford (Joyce Green hospital)
Much later (in the 70s) with 3 children at school we lived in Watford for 12 years.
I met Michael Duane in 1977! We talked and walked in a N.London garden at the end of year party of a training course he shared with my husband .I so admired his work at Risinghill School-an amazing man.

Now I'm going back to read 'Miss Carter's War' as a novel.I would like to know at what stage and why you decided to write it in this form

P.S My husbands twin sister was named 'Elsie'and one of my ancestors is
named 'Buckmaster' !

Did anyone else have a fitted coat like the one on the cover? Mine was just like that one, but in turquoise. I remember when "loose" coats came in, hating them to start with, they felt strange.

No, but my Mum did and very good she looked in it too. It was brown I seem to recall. She was a very beautiful woman and had a lovely figure (sadly I didn't inherit her looks!) I did have to wear a gabardine mac for school in a very fetching forest green which had a belt making me look like a sack of potatoes tied in the middle.
Back to the book.....

I am half way through Miss Carter's War and am really enjoying it. Loved it when they went in the car to Ullswater and although she didn't name the country house hotel I recognised it as the fabulous Sharrow Bay. I actually googled to find out when LPs were first produced because I found it hard to believe they had them at the beginning of the 50s, sure enough first ones released in 1948.

My mum had a maroon fitted coat in the same style. It had very large buttons, if I remember. I still have a photo of her wearing it while out pushing me in the pram. She would have worn this coat for years - no choice as there was no money for another one in those days. She was tall and slim and suited it so well.
At school I wore a bottle-green gymslip with the box-pleats all the way down the front and with a sash round the waist. Also the beret with the school badge. The little bit on the crown of most of the children's berets was always missing because we used to spin them round - the 'bit' came off, leaving a hole!

Just collected my copy as I was away when it was delivered. Thanks so much Gransnet. Really looking forward to reading it. Wonderful sense of anticipation!

Yes for my going away outfit after my wedding in Dec 1956 I had a deep red fitted coat in that style with a fur shawl collar. I loved it.

Maniac I was married in Aug 1958 and had a going away outfit of an Oyster grey silk dress and matching jacket with black suede shoes and bag.It seems so ludicrous now and todays brides would be amazed. I also had a "trousseau"(sp?) of new clothes which had been collected. It all seems a lifetime and lifestyle away.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will definitely recommend it to friends. Unlike Ms Hancock, I do not have a way with words but will do my best.

The book brought back many memories of the way things were in the 50's. For instance a woman could not get a loan, it had to be in a man's name! Also the way men 'talked down' to women.

I wonder if Ms Hancock has strong political and social views and wrote a novel round these views? This is in no way a criticism but I kept getting that impression.

Please keep writing Ms Hancock. I hope you have already started on your next book.

Thoroughly enjoyed "Miss Carters War" by Sheila Hancock. I felt that she was writing about things that she really knew about and had experienced, which is not always the case with other authors. I hope there will be more from Ms Hancock!!
Thanks again gransnet for an excellent book club choice!

Found this book waiting for me when I returned from holiday! I started reading and found I couldn't put it down. I keep promising myself to read just one more chapter but then just have to find out what happens next. I started reading it this morning and am already almost halfway through. Ms Hancock is a truly talented writer. As yet I have no question for her but when I finish the book (which at the current rate won't be long!) perhaps I will. Please Sheila, keep writing!

Very good read, lots of detail - especially how gay men (and women) were forced to hide their sexuality for fear of losing their jobs. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book - I enjoyed it very much

Found my copy waiting on return from holiday, lovely surprise, thank you. Will start it soon.

Sheila Hancock was on TV this morning talking about Miss Carter's War. I am enjoying it very much and it was good to hear what SH had to say about roles for older ladies. (I have to say she looks great for 81.)

What programme please rubysong. I would like to see that.

Thank you for my book. I am half way through and enjoying it immensely. Very nostalgic for old ladies like me (80 in Jan) - although I didn't go on the CND marches I had friends who did and we sang the songs at other venues. Eccentric old gel that I am I still get out my guitar and badly play a few chords I learnt then and sing about "If I had a Hammer" etc. I try and make sure no neighbours are about in case they have me put away.
The whole era is so different, with bedsits, and nice clothes.
It is particularly interesting the way the author keeps hinting at her experiences during the war, and I hope as I read more that more will be revealed.

Have really enjoyed Miss Carter's war. I was born in 1948 when the story starts, so in that respect, it is how Britain was through my life. I would be interested in reading a prequel - any chance of that, Sheila?
It's a great social history, as well as a novel - I shall pass it on to my daughter when I see her - there are things in there she will have no idea about - and she's pretty well read!
More please Sheila!

I finished he book last night, such a sweep of the social/political attitudes of the time. I was born in 1951 to a very grey Britain. As Numberplease I too had to wear a hat whenever outside my grammar school or the punishment was indeed wearing it all day in school. I lived in the poor part of Liverpool in which the school was situated so walked to school while most of the girls came by bus from the suburbs. I came in for a lot of bullying, threats etc from local kids who thought I was 'above myself', which is why I tried not to wear it until really close to school.
Loved most of the characters, Tony and Donald were beautifully written. Marguerite's disillusion with the education system reflects many teachers today who are leaving the profession they have loved for years as they are no longer able to properly teach, merely instruct to a set of rules.
Thanks you for a wonderful experience Sheila, I do hope there's more to come.

I wasn't sure if I'd like it at first, but now I'm really enjoying it. I will post again when I finished. Thanks for sending me a copy.

Like Cagsy I also finished the book last night and enjoyed it a lot. I was born in 1945 and grew up in post-war London, was taken to the Festival if Britain in 1951 and was very impressed with the iconic Skylon and Dome of Discovery. Thank you Sheila for mentioning towards the end of the book that there is a plaque where the Skylon stood near the London Eye. As one of his 70th birthday treats I'm taking my husband on this soon, and will look for the plaque. I enjoyed and remembered the many details about London in the 50s, and recall the groups of men in hats and belted raincoats loitering on street corners taking illegal bets. I relished the introduction of a certain dowdy Margaret Roberts in the early stages of the book too!

Marguerite's story is like a broad brush stroke which paints a vivid picture of society through the decades following the war, a novel laced with social history. The characters of Tony and Donald really came alive for me, and they were treated with sensitivity and warmth, making me wonder if they were based on friends Sheila has known, and I enjoyed the sprinkling of Polari that Tony spoke. The attitudes and values which Marguerite, as the central character, expresses, also makes me wonder how much of Sheila is enfolded in this? I smiled at the reference to the demo at Greenham Common, and wondered if I might have bumped into Marguerite there! Sheila's book emphasises the importance of having good teachers who can be instrumental in having a beneficial influence on society. I attended a London comprehensive school with teachers not unlike Marguerite, and became a teacher myself.

I was aware of the inner and outer Marguerite - the inner appeared sporadically in the italicised sections, and I wanted to know more, so it was very satisfying that Sheila brought both the inner and outer Marguerite together in reconciliation and transformation towards the end of the book. It was also good to see on the final page that Marguerite never quite lost her feistiness!

My question to Sheila is about the inner and outer Marguerite. The book was mainly focussed on the post-war outer one. Are there any plans for a second book, maybe in prequel style, covering more details and stories of the inner Marguerite as an SOE agent during the war?

Thank you Sheila for a very enjoyable read and a memorable first novel.

I have now finished reading Miss Carter's War and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was born in 1946 so remember most of the events recalled in the book.
Sheila's storytelling is superb. Many congratulations on writing a book that will, I am sure, be a bestseller. I will now pass the book to my sister who will almost certainly love it to. Thank you Sheila and Gransnet.

Thanks again for my copy of Miss Carters War. I finished reading it last night. It is an excellent book and it brought many memories back for me.

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN"T FINISHED THE BOOK
I enjoyed the book on the whole but had a few problems with it. For example the description of Margaret Thatcher as "the first woman to gain a foothold on the political power ladder." Marguerite would surely have heard of another feisty red-head, Barbara Castle, responsible as a minister for many things-seat belt wearing and most importantly equal pay for women!
I didn't like the final party when all was resolved and Elsie and Irene reappeared. Teachers know that the children who pass through our hands go out into the wide world and are then lost to us. Occasionally we run in to ex-pupils in shops or on buses. We sometimes hear about their achievements, we sometimes read about their mis-deeds or even their deaths. We hope they have gained something from our teaching and will lead better lives for it. But we never know. And we accept that. The poem about parents applies equally to teachers
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams
Kahlil Gibran