Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of Housewife, 49

In 1937 the Mass Observation Project in Britain began to archive materials related to everyday life. Nella Last became one of 500 who participated in the writing project, maintaining a diary for 30 years! Her diaries cover three periods: WWII, post-war, and the 1950s.

Nella was 49 in 1939 and lived in Barrow-in-Furness in Lancashire with her husband and had two grown sons. The WWII diary begins on September 3 when she wrote "Well, we know the worst." England was at war and Nella became a faithful recoreder of the wartime life of an average homemaker. She joined the WVS (Women's Volunteer Service) and became very involved in it and the Red Cross. What I liked most about her diary is that she didn't just tell what she did, she recorded show more her thoughts as well. As the war goes on and Nella shoulders increasing responsibility for the projects she takes part in, we can see her become more independent and confident. She begins to be frank about her marriage and ponders why she hasn't stood up to her husband in the past. Often her thoughts wandered to the future and she speculated there would be many social changes after the war. It will be interesting to read Nelia's other books and see what she thought of those changes when they did indeed take place. show less

An amazing account of daily life in wartime England as recorded by a recruit of the Mass-Observation Project. Nella Last, a housewife living in the small seaside town of Barrow-in Furness agreed to keeping a diary of her thoughts and activities to fulfill the ambition of the project to put on record the voice of ordinary people. We are given a detailed, vivid picture of her well-kept middle-class home, her husband who was a joiner in the nearby shipyard, her two sons, her meal preparation and menus and of the daily miseries of coping with the blitz, rationing and a multitude of inconveniences.

Nella was a woman of keen sensitivity with a love of nature, animals and children. She was tolerant of the weaknesses in others and generous with show more her time. And she had the gift and love of writing. With little education or training, she was able to choose just the right words to express her feelilngs or describe a passing scene. She is a prime argument for writing being an outright gift rather than an acquired craft.

An important sociological contribution from her diaries is the revelation of the thinking of women and how it changed during the course of the war. In Nella's case, she was a very compliant housewife to a demanding and possessive husband. She stayed in the home, preparing tasty meals, tidied the house daily and even warmed her husband's slippers by the fire for when he came home at night.--all done with this being the expectation of what every wife should do and with little gratitude. During the war, Nella busied herself with war-work and discovered that she had a real knack for organizing and keeping the peace amongst sometimes fractious women. She spoke of the confidence it gave her and her inclination after the war to never return to the near serfdom of her former life.

An altogether priceless window on ordinary life during the days of England's "finest hour," by a woman who exemplified the spirit that kept England free. show less

Nella last harbored a secret longing to “write a book” but felt she was not clever enough. Well, she was and she did and it is a wonderful account of life during WWII, but away from the “big events” and “major figures” we read about in the histories of that time. Nella made it her own war in many ways: she worked tirelessly in homefront efforts while battling with her own sense of who she was. She was very empathetic, energetic, independent, resourceful, funny and brings all these gifts to her relationships and her writing. Her book is a product of the Mass Observation Project which encouraged the writing of such diaries. I have already ordered another one even though I doubt any can match this free-thinking and show more free-spirited woman. show less

The British Mass Observation Project was an early form of social history that asked ordinary Britons to keep and submit diaries about their daily lives and experiences. Nella Last was their most prolific writer, and her diary of the Second World War is an amazing read and a profoundly personal perspective on the Homefront.

Her daily experiences are fascinating, but even more interesting is to track her gradual increase in self esteem as a result of "being useful" in the WVA and other volunteer organizations. Nella, like so many British women, found wells of inner strength she didn't know she had as she worked to provide aid and comfort to soldiers as well as people who had suffered wartime tragedies. And this burgeoning self esteem show more gradually changes her family relationships as well.

Especially with her husband, who, it seems, was surprised and none to pleased with the changes in his wife.

It's a wonderful story, and Nella is a gifted writer who deserves so much praise for her willingness to be honest about her feelings and emotions. Like all people, her thoughts sometimes veer toward areas that don't put her in the greatest light. But tell her story she does, and as a result we get an incredible look into the life and thoughts of a clearly incredible "ordinary" woman. show less

This is a lovely book. Nella's voice is authentic, passionate, and always in key. Her diary depicts her wartime life in compelling detail. I recently finished The Last Lion, and this was a remarkable counterpoint. It also moves me to reread the wartime Angela Thirkell Barsetshire novels, to see a fictional account of the same kind of experiences. For anyone interested in wartime Britain, this would be of interest.

I have read a number of theses Mass Observation diaries over the years and I think this is one of the best. It is also the book on which Housewife 49, starring Victoria wood is based. You get a very complete insight into Nella's life during the war and it is marvellous to see her becoming stronger and stronger as the time goes on, emerging from the timid little housewife of the start of the war, to a strong determined woman, nearer the end. We get a peek into her not terribly happy marriage, and her love for her boys shine's through. She continued to write her diary for something like 30 years and I really feel it was her salvation, as she now had someone to talk to and pour out her innermost feelings to, who would not judge her or make show more her feel stupid or small. An excellent read. show less

I love this book, and its sequels. For some reason I don't quite understand, it just kills me. Well maybe not quite kills me, more the opposite, like maybe there is still some hope for the human race, as found in this dear faceless middle-aged ordinary WWII housewife in the north of England who somehow wrote it down, the whole dilemma of existence in a world gone mad.