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Jenna Bailey

Can Any Mother Help Me?: Fifty Years of Friendship Through a Secret Magazine Hardcover – 1 Mar. 2007

by Jenna Bailey (Author)

4.2 103 ratings

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Can Any Mother Help Me?

Fifty Years of Friendship through a Secret Magazine

Jenna Bailey

In 1935, a young woman wrote a letter to the women's magazine Nursery World:

'Can any mother help me? I live a very lonely life as I have no near neighbours. I cannot afford to buy a wireless. I adore reading, but with no library am very limited with books ... I know it is bad to brood and breed hard thoughts. Can any reader suggest an occupation that will intrigue me and exclude 'thinking' and cost nothing!'

Women from all over the country wrote back expressing similar frustrations. They were full of ideas and opinions but had nowhere to express them. So they decided to start a private magazine.

The Cooperative Correspondence Club - or CCC as it quickly became known - was a place for these women to describe the subjects close to their heart: the pain and elation of childbirth, difficulties during wartime, or the struggles and comedies of daily life. None of the women anticipated the way that the magazine would come to play such an important part in their lives.

In Can Any Mother Help Me? Jenna Bailey presents the extraordinary group of wives and mothers whose lives connected through a magazine. Her book is an intimate and moving collection of personal stories and, above all, a portrait of inseparable friendships.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Faber & Faber
Publication date

1 Mar. 2007
Dimensions

16 x 3 x 21 cm
ISBN-10

0571233139
ISBN-13

978-0571233137
See all details

Product description

Review

'A fascinating picture of what it meant to be a woman - and a mother - throughout the 20th century.'
-- Easy Living

'A marvellous book about women's lives in the 20th century ... By the end, they feel like friends.' -- Financial Times

'A unique record of female friendship during the last century ... They write in intimate detail, often as events unfold ... Engrossing.' -- Guardian

'A valuable record of the necessity of friendship and the difficultly, elation and boredom of motherhood.'
-- Daily Telegraph

'Beautifully written and emotionally engaging. Bailey's selection
and organisation of the material is very good indeed.'
-- Telegraph

'Gruelling childbirth anecdotes jostle for space with war stories and tales of unrequited love for the GP ... Fascinating.' -- Evening Standard

'Jenna Bailey has skilfully compiled and edited some of what survives from the magazines ... compelling.' -- London Review of Books

'The women's letters (honest, articulate, humorous and moving) reflect their distinct backgrounds, families and politics, and their shared resilience and humour.' -- Sunday Times

`Fantastically absorbing, frequently funny ... gives us a
remarkable opportunity to indulge in that most human of pleasures,
eavesdropping.' -- Observer

`The standard of writing is amazing. Historian Jenna Bailey has
done us all a service that goes beyond a contribution to women's history.'
-- Times

From the Inside Flap

In 1935, a young woman wrote a letter to the women's magazine
'Nursery World':

'Can any mother help me? I live a very lonely life as I have no near
neighbours. I cannot afford to buy a wireless. I adore reading, but with no
library am very limited with books . . . I know it is bad to brood and
breed hard thoughts and resentment. Can any reader suggest an occupation
that will intrigue me and exclude "thinking" and cost nothing!'

Women from all over the country wrote back expressing similar frustrations.
They were full of ideas and opinions but had nowhere to express them. So
they decided to start a private magazine.

The Cooperative Correspondence Club - or CCC as it quickly became known -
was a place for these women to describe the subjects close to their heart:
the pain and elation of childbirth, the difficulties during wartime, or the
struggles and comedies of daily routine. None of the women anticipated the
way that the magazine would come to play such an important part in their
lives.

In 'Can Any Mother Help Me?' Jenna Bailey presents the extraordinary group
of wives and mothers whose lives connected through a magazine. Her book is
an intimate and moving collection of personal stories and, above all, a
portrait of inseparable friendships.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber; First Edition (1 Mar. 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571233139
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571233137
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16 x 3 x 21 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,217,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 3,710 in British Historical Social & Urban History Biographies
- 10,641 in Women's Studies
- 11,143 in Social & Urban History Biographies

Customer reviews:
4.2 103 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

103 global ratings

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Amazon Customer

Fascinating stories! Couldn't put it down.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 20 April 2022

Verified Purchase

This is an exceptionally well-written and carefully researched book, Jenna Bailey really has done the ladies of the CCC a great service in how she's handled all the stories and the information she provides to fill in details. The individual stories are captivating. I really flew through the book, couldn't put it down. There are some heartbreaking stories in there and a lot that are so full of life and joy. All the details of times gone by are wonderful.

Helpful

Lawrie Marlow

Wonderful book - a piece of social history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 15 December 2021

Verified Purchase

I read this book years ago when I borrowed it from the library. It was an insight into the lives of middle class women in the 30s and 40s. I was delighted to find it back in print.

The CCC letters show the real support women can offer each other, and also some of the issues they faced. The women are honest about their feelings towards their children, their husbands, their lives. It's a riveting read, and very moving at times.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Anne

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 31 May 2012

Verified Purchase

I expected more of this book than it delivered, which was sad because it chronicled a fascinating historical record.

For many years in the twentieth century a number of women wrote articles for a magazine which was circulated between them. They then wrote comments and responses to the articles written by others. The collection of amended magazines should provide a unique record of the lives of ordinary middle class women and what concerned them during this period.

Much of what is published in this book is as interesting as you would imagine. It provides a glimpse into childbirth, marriage, jobs, the war effort and other issues where women are talking directly to women. Where it becomes frustrating is that so little of what is contained in the book is the actual writing of the women. The editor seeks to create themes and link the pieces by commentary, and also provides large chunks of biographical detail about the women and their families. As a result it is very disjointed and I felt that I was being told a lot of things where I would have preferred to be shown them by using examples of the women's writings.

It may be that publishable and surviving extracts were few and far between and that the narrative interruptions were necessary to make sense of the material. If that was the case then I am not sure of the wisdom of presenting the material in this format - perhaps there was not really enough to make a book of this type.

What is here is interesting but I was disappointed and didn't really engage with the women or their writing in the way in which I would have liked.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Busy Book Mum

A treasure

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 7 October 2009

Verified Purchase

This is a dull book. It's a great book. It's a reassuring, cosy, fascinating, curl up book and nothing much happens. You see how the other half used to live and you learn a lot. You sneak a look into the lives of other women and feel better about being a mum because it's not just you. It's written in little sections meaning you can pick it up and put it down without fear of losing your thread. When I was breastfeeding day and night and I couldn't tell which from what, I had this book on the table with the glass of water and the remote control and the book frequently won out over the telly. I know! If you're the nosey type, a historian, do socially focussed things for a living or sometimes call yourself a feminist, have a look. Buy it for the intelligent pregnant woman you know.

7 people found this helpful

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Ms. Mary Smith

A wonderful find

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 3 January 2011

Verified Purchase

I came across this book by accident while browsing and bought it on impulse and am so glad I did. It's a wonderful book which provides a fascinating insight into the lives of a group of intelligent women from all over Britain who contributed to a secret magazine. It started in 1935 when a young mum wrote a letter to a magazine saying she was lonely and bored and asking if any mother could help her. Women responded to her plea and the Cooperative Correspondence Club came into existence. Author Jenna Bailey found their correspondence in the Mass Observation archive and put the book together.
It is a fascinating piece of social history and it's engaging and funny and moving. The women write honestly and openly about their lives - marriage, childbirth, the end of dreams, the loneliness of being a wife when a woman's place was in the home and by the end of the book you feel you've known them for years. It will still strike a chord with many women today - especially women who write. Reviewed by Mary Smith author of No More Mulberries

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Penny Turnbull

Far from what the title implies!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 14 September 2010

Verified Purchase

The title of the book, the colour pink, and the picture on the cover all vaguely imply this could be 'chick lit' - but it's certainly not. A bunch of women, struggling with new or early motherhood, from war-time onwards, with little advice from their own parents, formed a club, via which each wrote an article twice a month, on any subject, which was circulated among fellow members. Pleas for help were issued, advice offered, concern and sympathy expressed to those experiencing troubles. On marriage, women had to give up their jobs or careers. There are delightful vignettes of how women coped with parenthood, husbands, security or hardship. The friendships that blossomed were nearly all for a life-time. There is social history here on virtually every page.

3 people found this helpful

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