The Ministry of Information sounds like something from 1984: a nation intent on controlling its inhabitants, and that was precisely what it was. At the beginning of the Second World war, Britain knew that getting through the war—let alone winning it—was going to be tough. Germany was a fighting machine that had been preparing for all-out war a decade. Britain, meanwhile, had been nursing its wounds and hoping never to return to war again. The grit and resourcefulness of the p

By Pearl Harbor in 1942, Britain had been fighting the war in Europe for three long years. With shipping lanes blocked or bombed by Nazi U-boats, food was rationed and so was fuel. But it was the clothes rations that brought many of the women down. The monthly coupons allowed you to buy a skirt or two pairs of stockings; you would have to save up two or three months to get a dress or a pair of shoes. Thus, the American Bundles for Britain was a lifesaver. Housewives throughou

Snuggle down for a cozy read this festive season! One of my readers was in touch this morning to tell me she was sending The Chilbury Ladies' Choir to everyone she knew so that "they have a warm, witty, and intriguing page-turner to cuddle up with by the fire." Of course, Second World War Britain wasn't quite as cozy. Heating fuel was rationed and expensive, so unless you had your own stash of firewood, keeping your winter coat on inside was the norm. A garrison of soldiers s

Get a FREE eBook about Chilbury midwife Edwina Paltry at my website: www.JenniferRyanAuthor.com/Giveaways Babies do not choose when to be born, which made the role of the midwife so much more difficult in England during the Second World War. Bombs, a lack of public transport, and a shortage of hospital beds meant that midwives had to become super resourceful. With civilians threatened by bombs, people’s morals were quickly forgotten: extra-marital affairs were more common, as

Prim, the magical choir and music teacher in The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, has caused quite a stir with her great black cloak and frizz of white hair, her otherworldliness, and her spirituality. I am often asked if she was based on someone, and what is the key to that student-teacher magic. As a teenager, I had a very inspiring music teacher, the formidable Miss Newing, and Prim is very loosely based on her. The irony is that for such a magnificent and imposing woman, she was s

“CHILBURY is the PERFECT summer read!” a reader messaged me yesterday, sending this glorious photograph; what a delightful way to spend the summer! Well, that started me thinking about how crucial it is to have a brilliant read while away; not only does it make the moment shine, but it rounds off the entire vacation with that magical feeling of escape, taking you into a different world. It was with this in mind that I sat down and worked out the five core features on the perf

If you blow out through the rubber in a certain way, it would make rude noises! The gas drills brought laughter to British schools during the Second World War: if you blow out through the rubber in a certain way, it would make rude noises! Drills were held every month, even though gas attacks never actually happened—a double blessing as the mask filters were erroneously made with asbestos, a material that we now know would have induced serious long-term health problems. Gas a

Q: What do you do if sweets and candies are rationed and you haven’t seen an ice cream in years? A: Find an enormous carrot, peel it, push in onto a stick, and hand it your kids for a special treat. Sugar was one of the first things rationed in WW2 Britain, closely followed by butter, jam, cakes, cookies, and all things sweet, leaving it difficult to celebrate special dates. Millions of children grew up never having even tasted chocolate; an aunt who was only eight at the end