"Can Any Mother Help Me?" - fascinating sounding book about a vinatge precursor to Mumsnet

[treacletart]

Anyone else heard about this ? A group of women wrote to each other for support and advice for over 50 years using pseudonyms - sound familar?

[Dragonbutter]

i read this recently and loved it.
for some reason i had imagined that women in the 1940's onward were all domestic goddesses who were so much better at all this being a mum and wife thing that we are today.
turns out we're all the same.
and it also made me feel less 'geeky' for having a virtual mumsnet social life.
i feel less guilty for wanting to talk anonymously, as those women needed the same interaction but weren't lucky enough to live in a time of internet and immediate responses.
loved the book.

[FluffyMummy123]

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[Dragonbutter]

true. i remember there being some slow bits and some women that i wasn't all that interested in.
but some of the women's stories were more interesting and the concept as a whole was very interesting.

[hunkermunker]

I've read it. I really liked it, more as a snapshot of history and thinking about what it was like for my grandparents and great-grandparents, etc when they had children.

[Dragonbutter]

i'm going to a 1940's fancy dress dance later this year. not sure what to wear though. problem with the 1940's is that nobody had money and they had to make their clothes.
perhaps i could be a more glamorous american 1940's women?
any ideas?

[Doodle2U]

Read it a few months ago - it's very, very good.

[wheelybug]

I read it earlier this year - really enjoyed it and yes, MMJ,I did laugh at Roberta's intro - ' R was famous amongst the CCC for her atrocious typing'.

[FluffyMummy123]

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[MadBadandDangeroustoKnow]

I've been wanting to read this book for ages. It's been mentioned a few times on Woman's Hour.

Dragonbutter - I've got a wartime sewing book which was my mother-in-law's. Its fashion tips include siren suits and a great deal of make do and mend. Could you do the Rosie the Riveter look? If not, Hollywood glamour may be the way to go!

And has anyone else read Mrs Miniver? Another fantastic evocation of domestic life at that time.

[Dragonbutter]

Rosie the who?
I've wondered about a land girl look or something military, but essentially I want DH to fancy me on our evening out.
So a nice dress, but i'm not sure what style to go for. Maybe i'll post a thread in style and see if they know there.

Tell me about Mrs Miniver.
A book i loved set immediately post-war is 'small island' by andrea levy. It tells the stories of a young couple who come to england from jamaica and of the woman who they lodge with. It's brilliant.

[MadBadandDangeroustoKnow]

Here is a picture of Rosie the Riveter. Quite similar to the Land Girl look - but only you will know whether that would appeal to your husband!

Mrs Miniver (by Jan Struther) is the diary of a woman living in London during the war, doing voluntary work and generally coping with the danger and disruption. It's a very warm-hearted book, I think, and excellent at evoking that era and the reality of women's lives then.

I wasn't so enthusiastic about Small Island - I thought it documented a certain period of time but wasn't so engaging.

[Dragonbutter]

I really fell for the characters in small island. I thought the end was brilliant. I cried, but then i was fairly hormonal at the time

will look out for mrs miniver.

i started a thread in style this morning and got some great advice. don't think rosie the riveter is quite DH's thing

[floaty]

I have just staeted readfing this and and was also struck with the idea of it being a precurser to mumsnet.

Loved Robertas account of the birth of her third child ,not least because my third boy is Guy,just like hers,immediately felt a connection.

[Lilymaid]

I'm reading this too and enjoying it. They were very interested in orgasms - and whether having one or not affected the gender of their children! I'm sure I saw another thread here where an MNer said that she was the granddaughter or great niece of one of the correspondents.

[ScattyStudent]

DeweyDell - I LOVED this book, thoght it was fascinating, thank you so much for doing all that work and sharing those wonderful womens stories with us all

[kettlechip]

I read this on holiday last year, and loved it. I will keep and treasure this book as it's a wonderful insight into the past.

[Doodle2U]

Loved this book and MIL loved it even more!

[Jenbot]

It has been made into a play now at the west yorkshire playhouse, iirc.

[Jenbot]

Here - www.wyp.org.uk/events/event_details.asp?event_ID=5457