This humorous account of a family growing up in the rural environs of London in the 1920s and 1930s is a sequel to Molly Hughes's autobiographical trilogy, "A London Child of the 1870s", "A London Girl of the 1880s" and "A London Home in the 1890s". The book takes up the story of Molly as a widow, with very little money and three sons to educate. On the strength of her teaching experience, she becomes a schools inspector and examiner - a job which provides a rich source for anecdote. She moves her family to Cuffley, then an unspoilt rural village 15 miles from Kings Cross. Born and bred a Londoner, she is elated to find that, incredibly, the garden of their first house affords a view of St Paul's. The amenities of Cuffley are few, but hold charm for the modern reader. "The Times" arrives by bicycle; necessities, from sugar to doormats, can be bought from a hawker with a pony-cart; and telephone calls are made from a local farmhouse. The story that unfolds is an undramatic one about ordinary people. There are adventures, but of the homely kind - an evening at the "talkies", the move to a new house, the excitement of the first grandchild.

A London Family Between the Wars (Oxford Paperbacks)

Mary Vivian Hughes

Oxford Paperbacks

Molly Hughes vividly evokes from her memories the small, everyday pleasures of a close family life in Victorian London: joyful Christmases, blissful holidays in Cornwall, escapades with her brothers, schooldays under the redoubtable Miss Buss. Hughes provides the reader with an easy intimacy and intensity of recollection.

London Child of the 1870's

Electric Power Storage

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mary Vivian Hughes. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mary Vivian Hughes

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mary Vivian Hughes. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A London Family Between the Wars (Oxford Paperbacks)

London Child of the 1870's