Sybil’s new
book about a family in the Second World War is coming on a treat. As is her
usual way she portrays the good and bad in both sides in the establishment and
the domestic strata. We found when we lived in Germany and it was not long
after the war had finished that some of the German citizens feared their own establishment more than the official enemy. We also knew that in England that
during the air raid when we were in shelters there were those who would burgle
the empty houses.
There were
rules that prevented married couples in the forces living together, in certain
circumstances understandable (as in the new book) but never the less difficult.
It really makes you wonder how divided couples succeeded when the war was over
and they were reunited, maybe some of them never understood each other again. A
life apart allows the opportunity to form new relationships and endure different life changing experiences
that makes a formally happy relationship impossible.
