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A review by komet2020
Miss Carter's War by Sheila Hancock
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Miss Carter's War piqued my interest several years ago because of its author, who is a noted British actress I've seen in a number of TV dramas. It's always interesting to see if a noted actor/actress also has the talent to be a skilled novelist with an engaging story to tell.
I began reading this novel soon after I bought it. But put it aside when I allowed myself to be lured away by another book. Let me hasten to add that this didn't reflect any lack of interest in reading Miss Carter's War. (I confess to at times being a greedy reader who has often wished that I could read more than one book at the same time.)
Anyway, I resumed reading this novel a few days ago and once I was past the first 2 chapters, I was fully invested in the lives of Marguerite Carter, her students, her fellow teacher and close friend Tony Stansfield (who spent most of his life hiding what was looked upon as a dark, personal secret in Britain for most of the 20th century), and several other characters who figured prominently in the novel.
The novel begins in the fall of 1948 when Marguerite Carter, a young woman in her early 20s and a recent graduate of Cambridge University, arrives at Dartford County Grammar School for Girls (a real school that Sheila Hancock had attended in her youth) to take up a position there as a teacher of English. The grammar school is very much a school steeped in traditional values in a world newly emerged from World War II, though teachers like Marguerite and Tony (who befriends her early in her teaching career), who were in various ways traumatized by their wartime experiences, see their roles as helping their students to fully realize their ambitions and dreams to help ensure better lives for them.
Marguerite, who had a British father and French mother, had grown up in France. Following the defeat of France in June 1940 by Nazi Germany, she had managed to escape to Britain, where she joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and, following successful completion of her training, had been parachuted into France, where she assisted the Resistance in fighting the Germans. What Marguerite experienced of the brutality of war whilst serving with SOE would linger in the periphery of her consciousness for the rest of her life. It was something she took great pains to suppress throughout what would be a 50 year teaching career in a Britain that would evolve and change in profound and sometimes startling ways that had --- as the novel shows -- weighty impacts on Marguerite's and Tony's lives, as well as the lives of the novel's minor characters
It was interesting for me, as someone who had briefly been a teacher in the West Indies during the late 1980s, to see that Marguerite was expected by the headmistress of the grammar school to teach her pupils to the best of her ability without benefit of prior teacher training. In the Britain of 1948, anyone embarking upon a teaching career was expected to learn teaching in the classroom by trial and error. That I could totally relate to because when I began teaching high school students, I had to learn by doing and consult with my fellow teachers about doing the job.
I LOVED THIS NOVEL, which touched my deepest emotions. I recommend Miss Carter's War to anyone who loves compelling human interest dramas.
I began reading this novel soon after I bought it. But put it aside when I allowed myself to be lured away by another book. Let me hasten to add that this didn't reflect any lack of interest in reading Miss Carter's War. (I confess to at times being a greedy reader who has often wished that I could read more than one book at the same time.)
Anyway, I resumed reading this novel a few days ago and once I was past the first 2 chapters, I was fully invested in the lives of Marguerite Carter, her students, her fellow teacher and close friend Tony Stansfield (who spent most of his life hiding what was looked upon as a dark, personal secret in Britain for most of the 20th century), and several other characters who figured prominently in the novel.
The novel begins in the fall of 1948 when Marguerite Carter, a young woman in her early 20s and a recent graduate of Cambridge University, arrives at Dartford County Grammar School for Girls (a real school that Sheila Hancock had attended in her youth) to take up a position there as a teacher of English. The grammar school is very much a school steeped in traditional values in a world newly emerged from World War II, though teachers like Marguerite and Tony (who befriends her early in her teaching career), who were in various ways traumatized by their wartime experiences, see their roles as helping their students to fully realize their ambitions and dreams to help ensure better lives for them.
Marguerite, who had a British father and French mother, had grown up in France. Following the defeat of France in June 1940 by Nazi Germany, she had managed to escape to Britain, where she joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and, following successful completion of her training, had been parachuted into France, where she assisted the Resistance in fighting the Germans. What Marguerite experienced of the brutality of war whilst serving with SOE would linger in the periphery of her consciousness for the rest of her life. It was something she took great pains to suppress throughout what would be a 50 year teaching career in a Britain that would evolve and change in profound and sometimes startling ways that had --- as the novel shows -- weighty impacts on Marguerite's and Tony's lives, as well as the lives of the novel's minor characters
It was interesting for me, as someone who had briefly been a teacher in the West Indies during the late 1980s, to see that Marguerite was expected by the headmistress of the grammar school to teach her pupils to the best of her ability without benefit of prior teacher training. In the Britain of 1948, anyone embarking upon a teaching career was expected to learn teaching in the classroom by trial and error. That I could totally relate to because when I began teaching high school students, I had to learn by doing and consult with my fellow teachers about doing the job.
I LOVED THIS NOVEL, which touched my deepest emotions. I recommend Miss Carter's War to anyone who loves compelling human interest dramas.