World War II continued

No Place to Lay One's Head by Françoise Frenkel was an account of a Jewish woman's journey around France before and during the French occupation and continues on my theme of war books concerning non-combatants. Frenkel used to own a bookshop in Berlin in the 1930s and that's where the book starts. It's a slightly unusual book as it was "discovered" decades after it was published shortly after the war and the author has long died and her life post-war is largely a mystery. It's doesn't appear to have had much editing and is slightly amateurish as a result, although this is somewhat endearing I suppose. She doesn't mention she is Jewish until halfway through the book, it's obiously not a big thing in her life until it becomes so because of the Nazis. Anyway, she moves around France trying to find a home and is eventually captured before reaching freedom. Frenkel writes in such a low key way about extraordinary events that it almost makes them seem mudane. 5/10

World War II Begins

Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in War and Peace 1939-1949 by Virginia Nicholson was a very timely book as it covers a time of great social change, just as we are currently undergoing for home working (hopefully!). Women's workplace roles were never the same again after 1945, despite the best attempts of men to set the clock back. Likewise when our bosses try and get us back into the office in a few months. The book itself followed quite a few different women over the 6 war years. I lost track of most of them and just read it "as is". It was pretty enjoyable, moving in parts, and unrecognizable in many ways to the world I have ever known. It was a great eye-opener to human nature, and a pleasant change from reading "normal" war books about battles, generals and politicians. Behind the scenes, back at home, "her indoors" was also discovering hitherto untapped resources. 8/10