It’s been a while since I wrote a book review but I’ve just finished reading Miss Carter’s War by Sheila Hancock and had to share my thoughts with you.

The Blurb

It is 1948 and Britain is struggling to recover from the Second World War. Half French, half English, Marguerite Carter, young and beautiful, has lost her parents and survived a terrifying war, working for the SOE behind enemy lines. Leaving her partisan lover, she returns to England to be one of the first women to receive a degree from the University of Cambridge.

Now she pins back her unruly auburn curls, draws a pencil seam up her legs, ties the laces on her sensible black shoes, belts her grey gabardine mac and sets out towards her future as an English teacher in a girls’ grammar school. For Miss Carter has a mission – to fight social injustice, to prevent war and to educate her girls.

Through deep friendships and love lost and found, from the peace marches of the fifties and the flowering of the Swinging Sixties, to the rise of Thatcher and the battle for gay rights, to the spectre of a new war, Sheila Hancock has created a powerful, panoramic portrait of Britain through the life of one very singular woman.

My thoughts

When I picked up this book, it actually took me a few moments to realise that this author Sheila Hancock, was the same woman I had watched on the likes of Celebrity Gogglebox and Great Canal Journeys. I had an opinion of Sheila as seen on the screen but I had no idea what kind of author she would be.

I’ll be honest, the first couple of chapters, I struggled to get into the storyline. I don’t know if it was because it’s a different style of writing than I usually go for or if it was because the subject wasn’t the norm. Added to that, I’ve had a lot going on in my personal life which meant I was finding it hard to concentrate and settle down to a book. But I persevered and I’m now glad I did.

A book spanning several decades

It takes a very special kind of author to get the balance right between flicking back and forth through the decades. However Sheila does that in such an easy way that I just had to read on. Yes the past is at times brutal, however it was the little snippets that made you really think about life during wartime. Because although this is fiction, a lot of research has clearly gone into this book. I know a lot of things that are talked about during the war in this book, had truth behind them.

It is a book that spans from the 1940s right up until the 1990s. Woven into the characters’ stories is historical events and social history too. Some of which, I vividly remember myself, giving me that extra connection to the story.

Experiences vs research

You can tell that Sheila has drawn as much from her own experiences as she has research when creating Miss Carter’s War. This is what makes it such an important book to read. It really delves into important historical things that have shaped Britain throughout the years. Many of which have been forgotten as people and places disappear. Whether or not it was Sheila’s intention to do so, she has undoubtedly given a voice to those forgotten people.

The festival of Britain

Starting with the Festival of Britain, which up until a couple of years ago when I was reading the Burracombe series, I had no idea about. Yet at the time, it was the most talked about and visited thing. Something that would show people what the future of Britain could look like. It was an event like no other, intended to inspire a generation to invent and change things into what we have today in modern Britain. Yet unless you were there at the time, it is very rarely talked about. Because as a new government came into power, they chose to brush it under the carpet, seeing it as too extreme an idea.

Gay Britain through time

Another topic widely included through Miss Carter’s War is the history of gay Britain. From it finally not being a criminal offence, to the prejudices which, whilst not in the same calibre as they were then, are still very much there. The most shocking for me was the widespread believe that homosexuality and paedophiles were considered the same thing.

Sheila explores this belief in a really simple way by having a gay teacher in Tony. For years in this story, Tony is too scared to admit the truth, even when it is no longer threatened with a prison sentence. However when the truth finally does come out, parents make constant complaints about him and his conduct of which there is no truth. With the likelihood of Tony being sacked, tragedy happens which completely shocks you as the reader.

End of an era

One theme which runs similar to modern Britain is industries shutting down and workers striking. In my lifetime, I have witnessed similar, although not on such a huge scale. Miss Carter’s War explores the affect of industries shutting down, leaving the workers on the rubbish heap. With no work and no income, of course protests and strikes were bound to happen.

I was horrified to hear just what lengths people went to in these strikes. From how sick people weren’t allowed access through the door at hospitals all because someone who usually worked as a cleaner or boilerman, deemed they didn’t look ill enough. It got me thinking just how many people did die or have irreversible damage done because of this action. Again, bringing it back to the forgotten voices.

The forgotten voices

Something else through this time was the minority groups such as the Asian women on strike. This is something that I’d never heard about. Perhaps in their own cultures it’s spoken about but I feel like there’s still a real divide when it comes to the different cultures. To me, it feels like parts of history have just been brushed over because at the time, they were often deemed and treated as second class citizens. Yet their voice matters as much as anyone else’s.

The police

The matter of the police still shocks me. I’d heard of their brutality over the years in terms of strikes. Whilst I’d like to think we have learned and moved forward from there, there is unquestionably issues today within the police force that still cause a lot of distrust and distress in the news.

Wild ideas

I was outraged when a headteacher “of the future” was sacked and the school closed down because his ideas were “too wild”. This was deemed the case all because the board of governors didn’t agree with his outlook and opinions on how schools should be run.

Yet in actual fact, the school in question was very much how my school was at Primary level. It was more than just a school, it was a community. A place where children were free to learn and develop their own ideas, not still be stuck in the dark ages where children should be seen and not heard.

It just goes to show that sometimes things only stay the same because stuffy old sticks reject change. It certainly drove home to me how sometimes change is exactly what was and is needed.

Make do and carry on

But it’s not all doom and gloom I promise you. In fact, the characters in the story still have a great time, despite any hardships they face. And that is because they are British in some way. Whether they were born here or chose to move here, they all carried on and made the best of things which I think is one of Britain’s greatest qualities. Whether that’s during the Second World War, a socially changing country, or even in a pandemic. We never give up and accept defeat.

One thing about the main characters I love is their pact to never do nothing and I think it speaks volumes. To never just stand by and watch wrong things happen. To use the voice we are given for the greater good. Let’s face it, history has taught us that and future events will continue to do so I’m sure. If we stand by and do nothing, evil takes hold, so maybe we should all make a pact to never do nothing.

Final thoughts

As someone who has never wanted to be a teacher, I felt inspired by Miss Carter’s drive and determination to create a better world through teaching. I’m so pleased that towards the end of the book, Miss Carter comes to realise just how much good she has done in the world.

It makes me appreciate the handful of dedicated teachers who have helped me along the way so much more. It also made me think more closely about how my thoughts and actions can also have an impact on young lives. Whilst I’m not a teacher, it has made me think more about myself as a person and soon to be parent and what values I want to instil in them.

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The Jam Factory Girls By Mary Wood

Girls in tin hats by Annie Murray