Mrs. Miniver - Jan Struther (1939)
Shortly before the Second World War, a column by 'Mrs Miniver' appeared in THE TIMES, the first of many recounting the everyday events of a middle-class Chelsea family: Mrs Miniver's thrill at the sight of October chrysanthemums; her sense of doom when the faithful but rackety car is replaced; the escapades of Vin, Toby and Judy, her unpredictable young children; visits to the Kent cottage and, as war becomes a reality, the strange experience of acquiring gas masks and the cameraderie of those unsettling early days. Mrs Miniver enchanted the public with her sympathy and affectionate humour, capturing ordinary lives and values now darkened by war. First published in book form in 1939 and later an enormously successful film, MRS MINIVER became a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic -- with Churchill exclaiming that it had done more for the Allied cause than a flotilla of battleships.
I think Mrs. Miniver becomes one of those characters in fiction, that, like Sherlock Holmes, readers can't quite believe is not real, or at least never lived. Although some stories are loosely based on incidents in Jan Sturther's own life, this is a charming work of fiction that rings very true indeed. It is no wonder that upon its appearance it was so instantly popular. With honesty and gentle humour, Jan Struther examines the everyday occupations of an upper class wife and mother in an England on the brink of war. Upper class she may be, but Mrs. Miniver is totally approachable, a sensible,likable woman. Her world may be unknown to us in one sense, yet in another it is totally familiar.
Mrs. Miniver first appeared in a column in The Times, and so it does not read like a novel, nor is it meant to. It is an episodic series of chronological short stories, each of them wise and charming, moving us closer to September 1939.
I think Mrs. Miniver becomes one of those characters in fiction, that, like Sherlock Holmes, readers can't quite believe is not real, or at least never lived. Although some stories are loosely based on incidents in Jan Sturther's own life, this is a charming work of fiction that rings very true indeed. It is no wonder that upon its appearance it was so instantly popular. With honesty and gentle humour, Jan Struther examines the everyday occupations of an upper class wife and mother in an England on the brink of war. Upper class she may be, but Mrs. Miniver is totally approachable, a sensible,likable woman. Her world may be unknown to us in one sense, yet in another it is totally familiar.
Mrs. Miniver first appeared in a column in The Times, and so it does not read like a novel, nor is it meant to. It is an episodic series of chronological short stories, each of them wise and charming, moving us closer to September 1939.