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Love in the Blitz: The Long-Lost Letters of a Brilliant Young Woman to Her Beloved on the Front – A Timeless Wartime Memoir of Survival and Romance in WWII London
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About This Book
On July 17th 1939, Eileen Alexander, a bright young woman recently graduated from Girton College, Cambridge, begins a brilliant correspondence with fellow Cambridge student Gershon Ellenbogen that lasts five years and spans many hundreds of letters. But as Eileen and Gershon's relationship flourishes from friendship and admiration into passion and love, the tensions between Germany, Russia, and the rest of Europe reach a crescendo. When war is declared, Gershon heads for Cairo and Eileen forgoes her studies to work in the Air Ministry. As cinematic as Atonement , written with the intimacy of the Neapolitan quartet, Love in the Blitz is an extraordinary glimpse of life in London during World War II and an illuminating portrait of an ordinary young woman trying to carve a place for herself in a time of uncertainty. As the Luftwaffe begins its bombardment of England, Eileen, like her fellow Britons, carries on while her loved ones are called up to fight, some never to return home. Written over the course of the conflict, Eileen's letters provide a vivid and personal glimpse of this historic era. Yet throughout the turmoil and bloodshed, one thing remains her beloved Gershon, who remains a source of strength and support, even after he, too, joins the fighting. Though his letters have been lost to time, the bolstering force of his love for Eileen is illuminated in her responses to him. Equal parts heartrending and heartwarming, Love in the Blitz is a timeless romance and a deeply personal story of life and resilience amid the violence and terror of war.
Reviews
"Alexander's unassailable wit makes her an accessible narrator, someone in whom we see pieces of our friends, our sisters and, we hope, ourselves ..."
"Alexander's adoration for Gershon shines through in every letter, and so do her observations on the opinions and foibles of the people around her."
"The frankness and guilelessness of these letters grant them an astonishing authenticity ..."
"Deftly edited by McGowan and with informative chapter introductions by Crane, the letters offer a moving, sharply etched chronicle of wartime London ..."
"Any reader with an interest in cultural history or a love of romance will find this a book to savor."
"Never far from quoting her favorite poets, among them Donne, Wordsworth and Shakespeare, Eileen has an insatiable eye for funny stories amid the strange circumstances of war."
"It is touching to read the happiness she felt one evening in treating herself to an egg rather than a powdered proxy, and also her euphoria at Allied victories in the Mediterranean ..."
"Front matter provided by the editors helps give context, and a 'who's who' at the end helps readers keep the vast cast of characters straight."
"on almost every page there is a gleaming little starburst of life ..."
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