Favourite Books 1 : Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

I was going to write about my favourite books of 2009, but inbetween the new books I have read recently, I have been re-reading some of my favourites. Its comfortable, like visiting old friends, and so I thought I'd share my reviews of those books before I give you my favourites of 2009. First on the list is:

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

In 1893, Vera Brittain was born into a comfortable, middle-class family, leading a privileged but restricted life. Like many women of her generation, she had to fight for some kind of independence, while it was a matter of course for Edward, her much loved younger brother, to leave ome and go to university. When war broke out in 1914, Vera was caught up in the prevailing mood and encouraged Edward to join up, but she later admitted that at the time, she felt it an interruption and an inconvenience. No-one could have predicted the devastating and long-lasting impact the war would have on their lives.

Vera’s life was one filled with struggle and loss. From her fight to gain a university education, through her training as a VAD and then nursing the wounded of both sides in a war that took her fiancé, brother and numerous friends, to the re-building of her life and her world after the war; Vera Brittain was and is an inspiration. Her harrowing experiences haunted and informed the rest of her life.

So many books are written about war from the fighting man's point of view, if nothing else this shows us war from a very different perspective; from a woman who not only lived through it, but witnessed it, experiencing both love and loss. I defy anyone to read this book and not be moved. I am not ashamed to say that even now, more than 25 years after the first time I read it, certain parts still bring tears to my eyes.

The writing style is of another time, obviously; occasionally difficult to our modern ‘ear’ but elegant and effective. The latter chapters, after the war and Vera completes her education, are less powerful but it is an intensely personal and revealing view of the lives of women at the start of the twentieth century, and of the impact of the First World War on their lives.

If 'Testament of Youth' isn't compulsory reading on the curriculum, it should be.