October book club - Miss Carter's War

Hello Sheila - I loved the book and hope you are writing another? From one gran to another - I would love to know your feelings on being a grandmother. Best wishes

A belated thank you from me too.

I really enjoyed the historical context of the novel and for me reading it felt like a nostalgic journey reminding me of a lot of significant events that have taken place throughout my lifetime.

However I did not warm to the main character, she was a very worthy and admirable woman but there was something lacking. I wondered if this was how you meant to portray Margeurite Sheila? A woman who having lived through a very traumatic experience is haunted by it throughout her life and always hold part of herself back. Someone for whom the emphasis is on doing rather than on being. Even at the end of the book when she is reunited with Marcel she gets involved in environmental issues. Not that this is a bad thing, I think what I am attempting to say is that we know Margeurite through her work and not who she is and was that your intention Sheila?

It was a very thought provoking book and left me thinking about all those people I have known who lived through the war but did not discuss their experiences.

Thank you for a very enjoyable and thought provoking read.

A belated thanks for my copy of the book. The arrival of a new grandchild meant I put it to one side to read later and have only just got round to reading it.

I started off enjoying the background to the story but I began to get a bit bored with the characters. Nevertheless it was good to be reminded of old times at grammar school and how important the correct school uniform was to everyone. I admire the amount of research that went into the descriptive and historical background.

I think the book was well written but would have liked more emphasis on the characters and less on the political background

Thank you for sending me the book.

Thank you for my copy - I have enjoyed reading this book

The story took place across several generations and I found the wider social changes thought provoking.

One theme I found particularly interesting was how people rebuilt their lives following the second world war and how personal traumatic wartime experiences resonated throughout their lives.

Marguerite's personal story is set against a background of change, which over time incorporated words and images that would have caused fear into everyday use.

How did Ms Hancock approach this theme?

Thank you

I was looking forward to reading this book so much as I admire Sheila in so many ways. I was born in 1951 and like Lotie who has commented above my parents generation only spoke about the good times they had during the war years - the jobs the women had to do and the close friendships they made - never about the men and women actually fighting or dying
I didnt really enjoy the story - I thought Marguerites life was rather sad in most ways but the detail of the social history of the times was so accurate. It brought back so many memories - the devisive 11plus exams, the canings, the pregnant girls who left school, the demonstrations and marches, the AIDS scares etc
Education meant so much to us then. My parents were denied the chance of schooling beyond aged 13/14 and were so proud of their childrens academic achievements. It was what we used to get on in life and we are so grateful for it. It is such a shame few children now value their free education
Thank you for sending me this book - it will be passed on through many hands

I had Dartford Grammar as my second choice (luckily I got in to my first choice school) after passing my 11+, and my daughter went to Wilmington Grammar, so the book felt even more special and familiar than the average novel. I would like to ask Shelia if her acting skills were useful during the writing of this book? As an actress was it easier to immerse yourself into characters? I would also be interested to know some of the more mundane details, like how long the book took to write, how much research was involved, and whether Shelia has set times devoted to writing (like a job), or writes when ideas and mood dictate it is a good time to put pen to paper, as such? And, lastly, whether Shelia types everything from notes to a finished manuscript, or whether she uses a notebook to jot ideas down in?

Thank you Gransnet for my free copy of 'Miss Carter's War'; it's been a while since I enjoyed a novel so much, and I hope Shelia has plans for further novels as she's a great author - I was gripped from the first few pages. I look forward to seeing what other Books of the Month Gransnet will have - and maybe even being lucky enough to win more free books in the future.

A belated thank you for my book. I am enjoying the period details, which are well remembered and researched. Sheila Hancock has brought the era to life.

I only wish I could write like this. You know you are on a winner when you care about the characters. Great read Sheila.

I found this book very interesting because I was born in 1950 and it gave me more of an insight into what my parents' lives were like, when at the time I just accepted everything as children do. The war meant nothing to me and was rarely spoken of as I was growing up. I wondered how much Marguerite's first school was based on Sheila Hancock's recollections of her education? I shall read her previous two books now.

Sorry, forgot to put my question!
Did you have an inspirational teacher at your Grammar school that helped you to form the character of Miss Carter?

Bravo, Ms Hancock, an interesting and enjoyable read.The characters really came alive for me.
I was a grammar school girl in the 60's and wore a corduroy beret that fell off my little head all the time. A very clever girl in my class got pregnant at 15, by a boy in the 6th Form and like Elsie, left school. She kept the baby but, unlike Elsie, wasn't able to get back into any sort of education after that.
I became a teacher, and taught in some quite tough areas of London.
The only claim to fame (notoriety?) any of my ex-pupils had, was one little boy who became a getaway driver for a gang of armed robbers!

Thank you for my copy of "Miss Carter's War". This is a wonderful and interesting book which follows the life of teacher Miss Marguerite Carter from 1948 to the 1990's. It explores the changing social economics of Britain after the second World War and through the ages, through the life of Marguerite. I enjoyed reading this very much and hope to see further fictional novels from Sheila in the future.

Not read the book yet but will certainly look out for it. Been a bit caught up with a new and beautiful granddaughter.

I really loved The Rag Trade and just wondered if you had any really fond memories of that programme. You were so good in it as were Miriam Karlin and others so any anecdotes would be wonderful.

You are still a brilliant actress and I hope you carry on for many years to come.

I have read about halfway through 'Miss Carter's War' so far and am really enjoying it. I actually find that the characters are very real and believable and wondered if there was just a little bit of Sheila Hancock in Miss Carter?
Many thanks for yet another good read.

Dear Sheila, I am so pleased to have a chance to tell you how much I have enjoyed your three previous books. I was reading Just Me when my husband was diagnosed with an incurable cancer and it was a great help in marshalling my thoughts. I was thrilled to receive Miss Carter's War. It brought back so many memories of my schooldays in the 50's and 60's. I didn't feel that there was a modern perspective to it at all, it seemed to reflect how we felt at the time very well. I suppose part of me is still the 16 year old skulking round the art room in my tastefully? adapted uniform.

Everyone had such high hopes in the 60's; do you feel, as I do, that things are just getting worse and worse? There seem to be so few opportunities for young people now either in education or employment. I hate seeing my children in a worse situation than I was, when in theory they are better educated and more qualified than I ever was.

I'm afraid I'm not really enjoying this book.

Normally I try to finish any book I start and as this one was sent by Gnet with the request that recipients comment on this thread I felt obliged to keep going. The characters just haven't grabbed my interest so far so I think I'll put it down for now and try again at a later date.

I have only read the first bit so far but thought I must comment before the closing day.

I see you lived through these years and I expect you wore the gymslip with the 3 pleats. One thing that brought a smile was when you wrote
" 'Nice' and 'Lovely' are strictly Verboten." I remember we were not allowed to use 'got' and 'nice' and I still have to stop and think of another word when I am about to slip into using them now I am going to be a bit hesitant over 'lovely'. I was a poor speller so spellcheck has encouraged me to enjoy writing.

You write this book a bit like a script with lots of speech any comment about that. Do we see a TV series or a film?

Reading about the teachers it made me realise my teachers would nearly all have been in the war and we never really thought about it and looking at old pictures they were much younger than I had thought.

Sorry to strike a jarring note but I didn't like this book. In fact I`ve given up on it (and as an avid reader I haven't done that for years.).
I didn't care enough about the characters to read on through the political stuff. I thought that there was a strikingly 21st century perspective on events that was unlikely to be that perceived at the time. This retrospective projecting of modern opinions and feelings gave the book, for me, an inauthentic feeling. Maybe I`m hyperaware of this as I enjoy reading the books written in wartime and the postwar eras. So many interesting books by forgotten writers bring the time alive to me. "Miss Carter`s War" did not. Sorry Sheila.

Lovely book. Really enjoying it.

So many marvellous roles on stage and screen. Which has been your favourite and why?

I really enjoyed this book. Miss Carter has stayed with me since I finished it which I think is the mark of a good read.

I would be really interested to know how you enjoy writing a novel (ie making up the story) compared to acting (ie performing a story)

Thank you

I like most people here really loved this book and couldn't put it down. But if it is ok I would like to ask Sheila how she coped when she first lost John? I would truly value any tips

I am really enjoying this book, well done Sheila, I was born in 1948 , but remember my mum telling me about drawing seams up her legs. I had a gabardine mac and had to wear a beret to school, passed my 11 plus but my mum decided my sister and I would go to the local secondary modern school.... I loved the swinging sixties... what era in your life have you enjoyed most.

Lots of the school memories resonate, but the plot becomes it little too politically driven to be believed. A book that kept one reading, but why make Margaret Roberts so dowdy; it is not how she is always portrayed! That apart when are you going to portray Miss Carter on the big or small screen Sheila? You've written the part for just the right actor!