Hello, thank you for stopping by! Today, I have the great pleasure to be sharing my review of this gorgeous and insightful book; The Lengthening War; The Great war Diary of Mabel Goode by Michael Goode.
Edited by Michael Goode
Imprint: Pen & Sword History
Pages: 196
ISBN: 9781473851511
This is a strong narrative of the war, easy to read, mixing news with personal feelings and events (often revealing the gap between official news and reality). The diary captures the author’s growing disillusionment with the war, as it gradually encroaches on her life. The diary starts with great excitement, realizing its importance but expecting a short struggle, blaming treachery and incompetence initially but gets increasingly disheartened and eventually stops in 1916. Entries show growth of total war (seeing ominous Zeppelin directly overhead, shelling etc.), experiences of her two brothers in service (their privations and her ‘white-feather’ feelings), personal sacrifice and patriotism, reactions to casualty lists, women entering work (she does various war work), the steady collapse of domestic service (Downton angle), reflections on recognizable events such as Lusitania and on the competence of the government.
Also included several poems written by Mabel and a love story in the appendix, giving a complete insight into the diarist’s life. NB. Mabel and her brothers lived in Germany for some time, meaning they could all speak German and knew ‘the enemy nation’ as many Britons did not.
Review
As soon as I saw this book, I knew I had to read it, it shouted out to me to be read and I am so pleased that I did. I am a bit obsessed with this era, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw this book, it is not only absolutely gorgeous to look at – it looks so pretty on my bookshelf, not that is not the only reason I chose to review this book, even though that is a bonus.
This is the private diary of a young woman; Mabel Goode, who thought to write down all her thoughts and feelings during the first few years of the great war. With a mixture of Mabel’s own personal views on key events, she gives the reader a vivid and passionate account of what she was experiencing during those harrowing years. The diary starts full of excitement and optimism In 1914, from this part you get a genuine and honest insight into the minds of the ordinary people, what they thought of what was going on, at first it is full of so much optimism that the war would be over by Christmas 1914, a view that was shared by many around the country. She tells of what she is hearing and what is going on at the front, her entry about the soldiers being gassed is harrowing.
For whatever reason, her diary stops in 1916, whether this is because she is finding the whole war a strain or whether it was due to something more personal, we may never know. But what we can take from this is a real sense of the time, for a brief moment, we are transported into Mabel’s world of uncertainty, growing frustration, of her family and of love.
This gives a real insight into her life, from the struggles and chaos which was going on around her, to the simple hope of love. I was completely lost in her words, she was a passionate diarist, there is a lot of emotion on the pages and the reader picks up on those feeling too as you read; from love, confusion, anger, and sadness, she lays herself bare and for that, we should be eternally thankful as, without the likes of Mabel who felt compelled to write about what was going on, we wouldn’t see just how the war affected the ordinary folk.
This book is definitely one that everyone who has any kind of interest in WW1 should read, it is emotional and real, there is clarity and vividness that you don’t get from other works. I love how this is laid out too, it starts with the fact of what Mabel mentioned, followed by her diary. The entire book is thoroughly engrossing, it is an easy book to read, it’s not taxing or overly complicated there is a very warm and loving feeling to it, while reading the diary part of the book it is so clear it is like Mabel is actually standing here telling you her story.
A fabulous addition to the bookshelf and one that I will be pulling off again to read.
This was a complimentary copy via the publisher in exchange for an honest review, Thank you, Rosie. X
The Lengthening War can be purchased from Amazon and Pen and Sword.
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