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Amazon.co.uk Review
After a minor stroke, Gloria finds herself in Sea View, an old people's home with a nice big television in the lounge, where, if you look carefully through the big picture window, you can see the sea. There's also a problem with Gloria's memory. She may have Alzheimer's, she may just have selective memory loss-- or if you talk to certain members of her family, she may not have anything wrong with her mind other than a bit of deliberate Gloria bolshiness.
Gloria's son Hank and his family come to visit regularly and one day, a woman called Jill turns up and starts asking funny questions. Gloria would rather everyone just left her alone. It's bad enough seeing that little kid sitting on her bed dripping pond weed and blood most nights. She really annoys Gloria.
Funny thing is Gloria can remember so much about the war, when she and her sister worked in a munitions factory in Bristol and she met Ron, or Raan, the GI who initiated her in the ways of the flesh. One Yank and they're off too true! She can remember her first date with Ron, going to see the Great Zedorro, a hypnotist who got her up on stage and made her feel like a rod of iron. She can remember, the full gory details, the day one of the factory girls lost her arm and half her shoulder. And the day the telegram arrived about her sister's boyfriend and how Marge went off to drive ambulances in London and Gloria got lumbered with an Irish evacuee and her snotty kids. She can even remember much later, after the war finally ended, working as a pro back in London, where her Dad had worked the meat down at Smithfield market.
But there's so much more poor old Gloria can't remember. Things her son and the Jill woman keep ranting on about. Why do they want her to rake over all that boring old stuff? Why can't they just let sleeping dogs lie? What does it all matter now?
In War Crimes for the Home, Liz Jensen has conjured up a fabulously inventive, gripping tale; a sort of modern twist on the whodunnit, or in this case, who-dunn-what, with a very real, very spiky protagonist. Gloria bristles with indignation, speaks her mind however harsh it sounds and loves to shock with her filthy jokes and even filthier suggestions--which means that War Crimes is not for the prudish. It is however a wonderfully original but painfully raw story of an era when people lived in constant fear, hearts ruled heads and everyone lived for the moment. And Gloria was no exception. Although sometimes the moment turned out to be the future and people have to learn to live with the consequences, however unpalatable they may be. --Carey Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Daily Mail, July 19th 2002
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War Crimes for the Home is World War 2 from a woman's perpsective, and as well as being glamourous (in parts), it is also really witty. The main character is Gloria, and the story is told by her in her alzheimish old age, with flashbacks to her life during the war. She and her sister work in a munitions factory and after their 12 hour shift go out on the lash to get merry and meet GIs:
You know what they say about GIs and knickers? One Yank and they're off!
Gloria and Marje like sex, I don't know why I was surprised by this. I had this view of the second world war, and probably all periods in history, which didn't really involve visualising the actual people who were a part of it, which of course is ridiculous, because if there were no people, then there would be no history. I think the reason for this is that history in books and films is slightly sanitised, and concentrates solely on events and battles and conflicts, and sometime overlooks the society which is affected. Maybe I am reading the wrong books.
Anyway, I loved the crudeness of the main character, and the fact that she was never ever afraid to admit that she had had sex, and still had it at the age of 76 with a man in her nursing home. I found that refreshing, because it is nice to know that old people still have sex.
Apart from the sex, Gloria is faced with issues from her past, like a daughter she had and blocked out of her life. It is difficult to work out whether she always forgot it, because the present day narrative is based around the fact that she has lost her memory.
It rushes in quick sections from the heady days of the dancing of 1943 to her stale and depressing last days in a nursing home, and I think that is a reason why it is so powerful. It really hits home, that old people have had a life too. Excuse me for being naive and maybe ageist, but I think we forget this fact.
I for one will be asking my gran about her own life, something I don't think I have really done properly. Hopefully she wont tell me about her sex life but you never know with grans.
http://bookkoob.wordpress.com
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