Kisses on a Postcard
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'In World War Two evacuation was often more frightening for a child than the air-raids from which he was being saved, so it is surprising and delightful to read a positive account of the experience. Frisby has done something difficult: he has made good times and good people more fun to read about than any melodrama, in a book that leaves one feeling grateful and happy' Diana Athill
Product Description
It is June 13th, 1940. Terry, aged seven, and his elder brother Jack, eleven, stand in a crowd of children on the narrow platform at Welling station. Wearing labels, carrying gas masks and small suitcases, they are evacuees, or 'vackies', awaiting the steam engine which will pull them across the country towards their unknown destination - and new lives When they reach the tiny Cornish hamlet of Doublebois, Terry and Jack find they have swapped the newly built streets of suburban London for the adventure of the countryside. The woods and river become their playground, rabbit-catching and night-fishing their new pastimes. But it is the railway, above all, which delights them. Picked at random from the group of evacuees by a middle-aged couple, the brothers discover that the main London to Penzance line runs through a cutting right below the tiny terraced vottage where they are to live, the goods yard and sidings lie a couple of hundred yards down the line: to Jack and Terry, sons of a railwayman, No. 7 the Railway Cottages seems the perfect new home. It is the richest of childhoods, full of colour, humour and the unselfish love that Uncle Jack, an irreverent Welsh ex-miner, and his generous wife Auntie Rose, offer without reserve to the two young strangers. And despite fierce rivalry between local kids and the 'vackies', village life seems wonderful to the boys. That is, until the bombing of nearby Plymouth and dreadful news from the battlefield shatter the peace of Doublebois, reminders of the brutal reality of a war which at times had seemed so far away. Warm-hearted and moving, Kisses on a Postcard is a vivid and intimate portrait of a neglected part of our wartime history; a compelling and uplifting memoir of growing up in an extraordinary time.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kisses on a Postcard, by Terence Frisby,
By
This review is from: Kisses on a Postcard: A Tale of Wartime Childhood (Hardcover)
Playwright, actor and director Terence Frisby's most famous play is There's a Girl in My Soup, the West End's longest running comedy. He and older brother Jack, aged seven and eleven respectively, were WWII evacuees, in the Cornish hamlet of Doublebois, where they lived with `Uncle Jack', a former Welsh miner with good old-Labour views, and his warm-hearted wife `Auntie Rose'.
The brothers remained in Cornwall for three years, and fully entered the rural life there, whose outstanding personalities ranged from Miss Polmanor, a starchy Wesleyan Methodist, to Miss Polmanor's charge Elsie, a highly sexualised teenager, who succeeded in getting herself impregnated by one of the many American GI's billeted here throughout the course of the war. As a kind of watermark permeating the whole living texture of this charming wartime memoir is the benign presence of Uncle Jack and Auntie Rose, two very warm-hearted, gentle and generous people, for whom Jack and Terry's well-being is uppermost - one imagines not automatically the fate of child evacuees in wartime. The story has previous incarnations as a play, Just Remember Two Things: It's Not Fair and Don't Be Late, and as a stage musical based on that play. What critics and bloggers have said: `Terence Frisby has done something difficult: he has made good times and good people more fun to read about than any melodrama, in a book that leaves one feeling grateful and happy.' Diana Athill `I will say it again, a lovely lovely lovely book.' Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover `Frisby's book is an antidote to those misery memoirs which crop up everywhere.' `I predict a classic.' Stuck in a Book `Perhaps the best sign of how enchanting this book was to me, I didn't want it to end.' Banter Basement Kisses on a Postcard is a real treasure; it's told with love and fondness and humour and I never normally read memoirs by men so it's been refreshing and illuminating to have a male point of view on childhood for once. It really is a wonderful book that shows the tenacity and generosity of the human spirit, and I highly recommend it. Book Snob This is a lovely book. I felt lonely when I'd finished it...Auntie Rose and Uncle Jack finished me off. I needed a hanky.... What a lovely book. T Frisby and I worked together on Playschool long years ago...but it's just the sort of book I LOVE so thanks... Phyllida Law
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kisses on a postcard by Terence Frisby,
By
This review is from: Kisses on a Postcard: A Tale of Wartime Childhood (Hardcover)
Kisses on a Postcard is a true account of the experiences of Terence and his brother Jack during their evacuation to Cornwall from London during World war 2.
The evacuees soon start their own war against the local children and their story is both funny and moving. They quickly learn the ways of the countryside, while Elsie from the end cottage willingly broadens their knowledge of the birds and the bees. This is a brilliant account of an event that we hope will never be repeated. The title refers to a clever code devised by their Mother. Kisses on a postcard sent home denoted that they were well treated, while no kisses meant they wanted to come home. Fortunately Terence drew a whole ring of kisses around his postcard. Bill Sutton Coventry.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
heartwarming read,
By
This review is from: Kisses on a Postcard: A Tale of Wartime Childhood (Hardcover)
The story of two evacuee children during the Second World War. The author and his brother Jack are sent to the tiny Cornish hamlet of Doublebois, where they enjoy three wonderful years being looked after by 'Uncle Jack' and 'Auntie Rose'. This is a wonderfully warm account of those times, and an experience almost to be envied from the window of modern life, despite the reminders of the realities of war. No 7 Railway Cottages seems an infinitely wonderful place to be, proving that things don't have to glitter to be gold. Loved this book, and can't wait to see the promised musical. Why Kisses on a Postcard? I won't spoil it for you. Read the book and find out!
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