The war is now in its third year and although nothing can dent the unwavering patriotism of Henrietta and her friends, everyone in the Devonshire village has their anxious moments. Henrietta takes up weeding and plays the triangle in the local orchestra to take her mind off things; the indomitable Lady B, now in her late seventies, partakes in endless fund-raising events to distract herself from thoughts of life without elastic; and Faith, the village flirt, finds herself amongst the charming company of the American GIs. With the war nearing its end, hope seems to lie just around the corner and as this spirited community muddle through, Lady B vows to make their friendships outlast the hardship that brought them together.
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Henrietta Sees It Through (The Bloomsbury Group)
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'I haven't smirked, giggled and laughed out loud at a book so much in quite sometime. A perfect and delightful book' Savidge Reads 'I haven't read anything so funny for many years. They rank alongside E M Delafield's The Diary Of A Provincial Lady, and George and Weedon Grossmiths' The Diary of A Nobody' Susan Hill, Good Housekeeping 'Anyone who wants to get the feel of the period must read these short letters' Daily Telegraph 'Dennys writes in simple, elegant prose about garden parties and elderly colonels, about flighty young women and daunting, tweedy ladies avid to repel the invader with their own hands; and the comedy she describes is embellished by little drawings as accomplished as her prose' Irish Times
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About the Author
JOYCE DENNYS was born 14th August 1893 in India. The Dennys family relocated to England in 1896. Dennys enjoyed drawing lessons throughout her schooling and later enrolled at Exeter Art School. In 1919 Dennys married Tom Evans, a young doctor, and they moved to Australia. While living in New South Wales, Dennys's work was constantly in print and exhibited in many galleries. In 1922 Joyce became a mother and moved back to England. Her drawing took second place to the domestic and social duties of a doctor's wife and mother and she became increasingly frustrated. She voiced her frustrations through the character of Henrietta, a heroine she created for an article for Sketch. Henrietta was to become so important to Dennys that she once remarked, 'When I stopped doing the piece after the war, I felt quite lost. Henrietta was part of me. I never quite knew where I ended and she began.' These letters were later compiled to form Henrietta's War, first published by Andre Deutsch in 1985.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the follow up to the excellent "Henrietta's War" and takes the wonderful characters Joyce Dennys invented from 1942 to the end of the War. Everyone is a little tired now and have to keep giving each other support. Also, tempers are a little frayed, but all in all everyone is muddling through and managing very well. There is one really tragic moment when somebody's son is killed, yet the mother still takes part in a croquet tournament, and does not even tell anyone there that it happened. I found a real lump in my throat, I have to say, and was surprised in such a generally light-hearted book. Joyce Dennys was an absolute comic genius and her work still has the power to move you, make you think and make you laugh.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Simon Savidge Reads
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
`Henrietta Sees It Through' is the war years from 1942 - 1945 as written by our narrator Henrietta the doctors wife in the Devonshire countryside in the form of letters to her childhood friend Robert. It's a side to war you don't often see as really bar the rationing people aren't that aware there is a war on (and this is written to much comical effect in the previous book Henrietta's War too) to begin with. In fact most of them are in competition with just what they can do in order to be a part of the `War Effort'. Be it from the amount of heating materials they use, the way they can create clothes out of curtains and pyjama's, who can knit the most and who can house the most evacuee's.
There is a much darker twist though as the book goes on and suddenly Devonshire isn't quite as safe as it once was -the siren is even rung on several occasions which has been unheard of until now. Though still incredibly funny in parts I can imagine Joyce Dennys couldn't just make a set of columns for Sketch magazine (which is where Henrietta was created) constantly funny despite the fact the idea behind it was in some way to make people laugh during these trying times, Dennys own war effort if you will. So people in the village that Henrietta knows do loose loved ones as many people did and though there is sadness Dennys mixes in the hope of the Blitz Spirit which wasn't just alive and well in London but around the whole country.
I again thoroughly enjoyed the second, and sadly I think final, instalment of Henrietta and the goings on of her and her friends such as the wonderful Lady B, the ditzy flirtatious Faith (a lovely happy story line there) and a few new characters too not just of the human variety either. I said last year that `I haven't smirked, giggled and laughed out loud at a book so much in quite some time. A perfect and delightful book' after reading `Henrietta's War' and was worried this one might not be able to live up to the last one. However with Dennys adding a few darker shades of the war in I found the contrast added something extra that made this a wonderful follow up and whilst I carried on laughing, I was made to think much more about war and its effects.
There is a much darker twist though as the book goes on and suddenly Devonshire isn't quite as safe as it once was -the siren is even rung on several occasions which has been unheard of until now. Though still incredibly funny in parts I can imagine Joyce Dennys couldn't just make a set of columns for Sketch magazine (which is where Henrietta was created) constantly funny despite the fact the idea behind it was in some way to make people laugh during these trying times, Dennys own war effort if you will. So people in the village that Henrietta knows do loose loved ones as many people did and though there is sadness Dennys mixes in the hope of the Blitz Spirit which wasn't just alive and well in London but around the whole country.
I again thoroughly enjoyed the second, and sadly I think final, instalment of Henrietta and the goings on of her and her friends such as the wonderful Lady B, the ditzy flirtatious Faith (a lovely happy story line there) and a few new characters too not just of the human variety either. I said last year that `I haven't smirked, giggled and laughed out loud at a book so much in quite some time. A perfect and delightful book' after reading `Henrietta's War' and was worried this one might not be able to live up to the last one. However with Dennys adding a few darker shades of the war in I found the contrast added something extra that made this a wonderful follow up and whilst I carried on laughing, I was made to think much more about war and its effects.
Format:Paperback
Everybody who is remotely interest in life in World War II should read these two books about the Country Doctor's wife by Joyce Dennys. I didn't experience wartime life, I missed it by a couple of years, but my passionate interest in the war was developed by my mother, who saw the funny side of everything and could tell wartime stories that made you roar with laughter. Joyce Dennys does exactly this. Her characters are delicious and so realistic; the petty squabbles amongst the villagers are a hoot and the letters of the long-suffering Henrietta to her friend in the services have got to have been the basis of 99% of wartime letters, mundane, everyday stuff but the stuff of life itself!
I felt cosy and warm reading these books, I had a vivid picture in my mind of all the characters, the sweet, the self-important and particularly the eccentrics and I recommend them to anyone who wants just a nice, light read.
I felt cosy and warm reading these books, I had a vivid picture in my mind of all the characters, the sweet, the self-important and particularly the eccentrics and I recommend them to anyone who wants just a nice, light read.
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