{"product_id":"mrs-miniver","title":"Mrs Miniver","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/7642\/5795\/files\/BlackerRedCross.jpg?v=1727105515\u0026amp;width=700\" style=\"float: none;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePREFACE BY YSENDA MAXTONE GRAHAM\u003cbr\u003e344pp\u003cbr\u003eISBN 9781910263419\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 3\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMrs Miniver\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e began life in 1937 when its\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e author, Jan Struther, was commissioned to write occasional columns for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eabout ‘an ordinary sort of woman – like yourself’ and this she did. Like the real-life Jan Struther, Mrs Miniver is a young married woman living in Chelsea (very close to ‘\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGreenery Street\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e’, PB No. 35), who shops in the King’s Road, discusses the week’s menus with cook, enjoys her children only as much as she wants to, and drives up to Scotland for the ‘glorious twelfth’. The most significant sentence is at the end of the first column when ‘with a little sigh of contentment [she] rang for tea.’ \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome of us will find this slightly enraging since there are now probably only about ten people in the UK, not counting Queen Camilla, who ring for tea. But annoyance is the wrong way to react. The better way is to see the book as a historical document about the everyday life of the English upper-middle classes during the 1930s, a life that would change dramatically and for ever during the war. It’s a world as distant from us now as the Victorian period, but that does not stop the book from being highly entertaining, fun and interesting.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition, although by our standards Mrs Miniver is a tad complacent, she is not blind to other people’s prejudices about, for example, evacuees. An acquaintance tells her: ‘“I said to her before she left: ‘Even if the worst does come to the worst, you must make it quite clear to the authorities that I can only accept Really Nice Children.’” “And where,” Mrs. Miniver could not restrain herself from asking, “are the other ones to go?” “There are sure to be camps,” said Lady Constance firmly.’ This has more than a tinge of Mollie Panter-Downes, and no greater compliment could one pay.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJan Struther was a marvellous writer, remembered nowadays not just for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMrs Miniver \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ebut for her hymns (eg. ‘Lord of all hopefulness’ and ‘When a knight won his spurs’). As her granddaughter Ysenda Maxtone Graham says in her Persephone Preface, ‘she was the master of the small universal truth’. The \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMrs Miniver\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003epieces are not weighty or profound but they are memorable and to the point. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Persephone Books edition of \u003cstrong\u003eMrs Miniver\u003c\/strong\u003e not only contains a new preface by Ysenda Maxtone Graham and all of the columns written for \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e, but also the text of a talk given by Jan Struther in early 1940 titled 'The Truth About Mrs Miniver' and reviews of the book by EM Forster and Rosamond Lehmann.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"page\" title=\"Page 4\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"layoutArea\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"column\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA word here about Persephone publishing neglected books. No one could argue that \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMrs Miniver\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis neglected. But many people will not have read it before, and in any case the mix of wit, social history, beautiful writing and domestic feminism ensures that it’s a perfect fit for our list. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEndpapers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe endpapers are taken from the cover of the original 1939 Chatto \u0026amp; Windus edition of \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMrs Miniver\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePicture Caption\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Tea with the Red Cross (Blood Donors)’ (1940) by Elva Blacker (1908-84). This painting is sometimes to be seen in the window of Persephone Books. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jan Struther","offers":[{"title":"None","offer_id":54098810175795,"sku":"mxa1789695095938","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tissue\/Endpaper","offer_id":54098810208563,"sku":"flz1789695095939","price":31.68,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cambridge Imprint paper","offer_id":54098810241331,"sku":"qmw1789695095940","price":32.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Reusable fabric napkin","offer_id":54098810274099,"sku":"awk1789695095941","price":52.93,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/0578\/4627\/files\/mrs-miniver_1.jpg?v=1789695103","url":"https:\/\/sandstepclad.shop\/products\/mrs-miniver","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}