Customer Reviews
In safe hands... - By: M. Parkes, 19 Nov 2008 
When Julie asked me if she could include my parents' storyin Strangerin the House I agreed because I felt strongly that my mother's experiences, like those of tens of thousands of other women, deserved our attention. Julie has been sensitive & thoroughin her research & she's done a marvellous job of shedding light on this little known aspect of wartime experiences. There is much we can learn from these stories & it is important, I believe, that each contributor is allowed to speak for themselves. My parents & I werein safe hands.
A study of warmth and humanity - By: Michael Swaine, 26 Sep 2008 
One of Julie Summer's strengths as a biographer is her capacity to allow her subjects to speak for themselves - but at the same time, throughout this fine book, the reader always has a reassuring sense of the author's guiding hand.
These stories of the women so directly affected by the last war are often deeply moving, full of their humanity & strength. The author successfully conveys the complexity of their feelings, the ambivalence felt by many of these women - glad to have their menfolk back home, & yet reluctant to give up the hard-fought-for freedom & independence they had gained during the war years.
The depth & quality of research is neverin question, allowing the reader to feel safein the author's hands. The chapter on the Army Postal Service, for example, & the vital role it playedin maintaining morale, was excellent: a dry subject brought vividly to life.
The author's understanding of & empathy with the awfulness of the experiences of some of the returning men is exemplifiedin the chapter on returning POWs from the Far East: men forever damaged by their horrendous ordealin Japanese camps. An ordeal that was literally unspeakable - which is to say because of the understood agreement that no-one would mention those lost years afterwards, neither the men, nor their families. That so much further damage was caused to the men & to their families by this inhuman silence is movingly evokedin this section of the book.
My only reservation is that this book feels slightly incomplete - certainly as a social history study. There is a predominance of stories from soldiers servingin the Far East, & particularly those who were unfortunate enough to be taken prisoner; there is also a seeming bias towards returning officers & career soldiers. Perhaps these reflect the author's own areas of expertise - & to be fair, she never does claim this book to offer a representative section of society, nor that it is a comprehensive study of post-war British society.
Finally, I would have to say that this is a hugely readable book - the writing style & presentation is beautifully clear, warm & full of confidence. It was a pleasure to pick up, & a pity to finish it.
Evocative stories - By: Janie Hampton, 18 Sep 2008 The moving & beautifully told story of the way that women - wives, sisters & mothers- coped when their menfolk came home from the war, often very traumatised & difficult to live with. Real life experiences, with lessons for us all, even now.
