Women from all walks of life have been thrown together by the War. Together they must toil for long hours in the aircraft factory whilst striving to navigate their disrupted lives. Overseeing their work is the kindly Edward Ledward, whose beloved rabbits provide an escape from his loveless marriage. Given a promotion, and somewhat scared of 'his girls', Edward quickly finds himself out of his depth. But will these terrifying women be his ruin or his salvation? Set during World War II and covering themes of love, family, and independence, The Fancy is above all a human story, a study of everyday life and its extraordinary characters. It was first published in 1945.
Author
From the publisher: MONICA DICKENS, born in 1915, was brought up in London and was the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Her mother's German origins and her Catholicism gave her the detached eye of an outsider; at St Paul's Girls' School she was under occupied and rebellious. After drama school she was a debutante before working as a cook. One Pair of Hands (1939), her first book, described life in the kitchens of Kensington. It was the first of a group of semi autobiographies of which Mariana (1940), technically a novel, was one. 'My aim is to entertain rather than instruct,' she wrote. 'I want readers to recognise life in my books.' In 1951 Monica Dickens married a US naval officer, Roy Stratton, moved to America and adopted two daughters. An extremely popular writer, she involved herself in, and wrote about, good causes such as the Samaritans. After her husband died she lived in a cottage in rural Berkshire, dying there in 1992. http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/page...
