I have always been fascinated by history and the effect
that it has on us. When I was in the library this week, I
picked up a little gem called Good Evening, Mrs. Cravens that was by an English woman, Mollie Panter-Downes. She wrote stories about the Blitz and wrote exclusively for The
New Yorker.

I have always thought how hard it would be to send your children to the country so they could be safe and how hard
it would be on the people who took them in. It would be
hard to have strangers billeted in your home. It would have been very hard on the land girls as far as physical
labor went. I am not sure that Americans could make that
sacrifice.

These short stories tell of the emotions of the people
involved. The terror of waiting to know your children
have arrived at their destination. The cruel seperation
from husbands and lovers. The coping skills of meal
preparation from limited rations.

Her stories are so preceptive and so concentrated on human
feelings. She wrote them from a hut located in the garden
of her country home. Her skills of observation were real
and concrete. Her stories are brief and sometimes comic.
They make the extraordinary ordinary. If you find this
at your library, it will be a rare treat.