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

Joyce Dennys, an illustrator by trade, wrote this series of essays as a weekly column during WW II; they purport to be letters written by Henrietta (the local doctor's wife) to her Childhood's Friend, Robert, at the Front. Gentle, wry, and often laugh-out-loud funny, Henrietta's letters describe the daily struggles of ordinary Englishmen and -women, Keeping the Home Fires Burning. Of course, each letter is illustrated by one of Dennys's witty illustrations.

This may be my favorite Bloomsbury to date (except perhaps Mrs. Tim of the Regiment, of which I was already a longtime fan). I adored the motley collection of eccentrics that people Henrietta's coastal town, from ferocious Mrs. Savernack (who gives up sleep for the duration so that show more she can patrol the moor on horseback by night) to giddy Faith, whose heart is touched when her beau offers her ALL his clothes coupons. But my absolute favorite is elderly, unflappable Lady B., who spends her spare time writing nasty letters to Hitler.

Here is a lovely bit: It is Lady B.'s birthday, and Henrietta notices with concern that she seems uncharacteristically blue. Gently, Henrietta probes for the wound: is Lady B. feeling frightened? No. Feeling her age? No. Well, then, what is it? "Well, it's like this," said Lady B, getting rather pink. "I know it's rather silly of me, Henrietta, but I did hope, I did HOPE," she added passionately, "that Hitler would try to invade us on my birthday."

Oh, the Brits. Churchill was correct when he said it was the old ladies of Britain who would finally break Hitler. show less

Joyce Dennys was an artist who became frustrated when she married, moved back to England, and encountered strict societal expectations for a mother and doctor's wife. She created the character of Henrietta, her alter ego, and was able to express some of her frustrations through a series of letters that the fictional Henrietta wrote to her cousin, Robert, who was fighting in World War II. These funny, yet telling letters were published as a regular feature in The Sketch, a British illustrated newspaper weekly. The letters and accompanying illustrations were compiled into the book, [Henrietta's War], in 1985.

Henrietta is the wife of the stolid doctor Charles and the mother of two children: Bill, who is waiting for a commission, and show more Linnet, who works as a nurse. Her days are taken up with domestic chores and the society doings expected of a woman of her class. Between the lines of her witty and upbeat letters, Henrietta mocks her class for their well-meant, but slightly ridiculous, efforts on behalf of the Home Front. Small details of life during wartime, such as pasting strips of linen on the windows to prevent them from shattering or maintaining a victory garden, become comic vignettes with a small sting. The line illustrations are hilarious. I can't wait to get the second volume, [Henrietta Sees it Through: More News from the Home Front 1942-1945]. show less

If you want the ultimate comfort read, to make you feel better about almost anything you're facing, this one is a hot cup of tea, Aunt Midge's cinnamon buns and your fuzzy slippers all rolled up in one. A collection of pieces Dennys wrote during WWII, ostensibly letters to a childhood friend at the front, of the sort to lift his spirits with tales of how well everyone was making do on the home front. Full of humor and that particular sort of British woman who, if lined up on the beach, "each with a large stone in her hand" might have done a lot of damage to an invading force. When Henrietta and her husband, Charles, toasted the New Year with a combination of "remnants" from various depleted bottles, there were real tears in my eyes show more while I laughed out loud.
'Damn Hitler'
'Hear, hear!.. And God bless the King.'
'And the Queen'
'And the Queen, God bless her! And the little Princesses.'
'Absent friends!'
'And the Americans.'
'The Americans...Good luck to them.'
'And the Choles and Pecks.'
'The POLES and CZECHS, and all our other allies'
'I feel better.'
'That was the idea.' show less

On the radio there is talk of invasion but let's not think about that. I am going to tell you instead about Mrs Savernack'
By sally tarbox on 7 Nov. 2012
Format: Paperback
Delightful little book featuring Henrietta, wife of a Devon GP. In letters to a Childhood Friend serving in France, she shows the lighter side of the early years of WW2.
Featuring such wonderful scenes as her daughter's preparations for the expected evacuee: 'Even going so far as to lay a bar of chocolate on the lonely pillow and fish her old teddy-bear out of a box in the attic. At half-past five a youth of sixteen, just under six feet tall, was deposited on our doorstep.'
And 'a most enjoyable rehearsal of an air-raid warning...You would have thought that siren was a show more herald of good tidings instead of possible death and destruction...People in the streets were wreathed in smiles and some were doubled up with laughter...I haven't seen this place so gay since the Coronation'.
Rationing, the black-out, the struggle to procure meat for the pet dog - I thoroughly enjoyed it. show less

Joyce Dennys wrote a series of articles during World War II for Sketch Magazine. These articles, based on her own life, were in the form of letters written to her childhood friend, Robert. Through her character of Henrietta, she voiced the daily affairs, frustrations and trials of keeping a doctor’s house running though the changes that war inevitably brought.. With humor, verve and grace, Henrietta and her friends spring to life and everything from tea parties to their fears of Nazi invasion are covered. Many of these “letters” are accompanied by black and white line drawings that add to the overall amusement.

Henrietta lives in a small coastal village in Devon. Her articles are peopled with quirky, endearing characters and show more actually give one a fairly accurate picture of upper middle class life in Britain during the war.
From worrying about her children, one a soldier and the other working as a nurse to worrying about what to put on the dinner table, Henrietta appears to be a rather mild woman but nothing much gets past her, and she has plenty to say about her friends and neighbours, painting a vivid picture of village life.

Extremely clever, optimistic and, at times laugh-out-loud funny, Henrietta’s War was a fun read. This book covered the years 1939 to 1941, and there is a sequel called Henrietta Sees It Through that covers the remaining war years. show less

This was original published as serialized letters during World War II. They are written from one childhood friend, Henrietta, who is married and living in Devonshire, to another, Robert, who is on the front lines. Henrietta paints a sweet picture of the Devonshire community where she lives. She tells him about how the war is affecting them and about the causes everyone is taking up in the war effort.

It reminded me a bit of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It shows what happens to a tight-knit community when it’s thrown into a war. You still have your regular life, but everything takes a backseat to the war. The book manages to find humor in the midst of a serious situation, providing levity in a time that people show more desperately needed it.

“And then, suddenly, the sheer incredibility of this war struck me, as it does all of us from time to time, like a blow.” show less

The word quaint, unfortunately, often carries a negative connotation of cutesy. When I call this book quaint, put that connotation far from your mind and stick to the more strict definition of having an old-fashioned charm or attractiveness. Charming and attractive describe this book perfectly...well, that and extremely funny.

If you're unfamiliar, Henrietta's War is a compilation of Dennys' articles for Sketch magazine during World War II, which took the form of short letters from her alter ego, Henrietta, to a childhood friend, Robert, who was fighting in France. In them, she satisfies Robert's request for news of the little Devonshire village that is home, letting him know how they are coping with the war's tribulations.

There is none show more of the slickness that so often accompanies modern humorous writing. Dennys' writing is simple and direct; she simply tells the village stories. And, yet, her observations are so keen and her wit so sharp that you can't help but laugh as she dryly skewers a bit of silliness (including herself). What emerges from the affectionate, ordinary stories is something that has just a hint of the extraordinary about it. show less